Stronger than Expected Retail Sales Data Boosted the Dollar this week

Demand for the local currency on the Lebanese forex market steadied, with the value of the Lebanese Pound trading within the range of $/LP 1,514 – 1,514. 5 with a mid-price of $/LP 1,514.25 since last week while BDL’s foreign assets stood at $41.9B by November 2017.

Lebanese Forex Market

The dollarization ratio of private sector deposits rose from 65.82% in December 2016 to 66.92% by the end of September 2017.

By Friday December 15th, the Euro depreciated against the dollar-pegged LP going from €/LBP 1,788.51 last week, to €/LBP 1,778.40, this week.

As for the Nominal Effective Exchange Rate (NEER) of the LBP, it rose slightly by 0.28% over the past week, to close the week at 112.24 points by December 15th.

International Forex Market

The dollar advanced against the euro this week as US retail sales beat expectations in November and as the European Central Bank renewed its commitment to engaging in monetary stimulus to boost the economy.

As such, the Euro-Dollar exchange rate slipped from 1.1864 last week to 1.1797 this week. 

Commodities

Gold prices rose from $1,249/ounce last week to $1,252.78/ounce this week.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *