Lebanese Forex Market
Demand for the dollar on the Lebanese forex market increased over the past week, where the value of the Lebanese pound against the dollar went from a mid-price of $/LP 1,514 within the range $/LP 1,513.75-1,514.25 to $/LP 1,514.25 within the range $/LP 1,514-1,514.5 on Friday.
Foreign assets (excluding gold) at the Central Bank increased 8.56% since the beginning of the year to $40.27B by November 2016, boosted by the recent swap executed by BDL with the MoF and Lebanese banks. The dollarization ratio of private sector deposits increased from 64.88% in December 2015 to 64.98% in September 2016.
By Friday the 2nd of December 2016, the euro appreciated against the dollar-pegged LP over the last week, going from €/LBP 1,597.80 to €/LBP 1,604.73. As for the Nominal Effective Exchange Rate (NEER) of the LBP, it increased slightly by 0.08% to reach 117.83 points.
International Forex Market:
The US Dollar underwent a corrective pullback this week, falling from €/$ 1.0599, last week, to €/$1.0645 this week. The euro strengthened after the European Central Bank prolonged its quantitative easing program. However, the dollar is expected to bounce back as US unemployment rate reached a 9 year low in November, at 4.6%, strengthening the view of a faster US growth.
Commodities:
Over the past week, gold prices decreased from $1,182.88/ounce to $1,172.5/ounce this week.