Lebanese Forex Market
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 with BDL’s foreign assets standing at $41.9B by November 2017.
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 22, the Euro appreciated against the dollar-pegged LP going from €/LBP 1,778.40 last week, to €/LBP 1,786.09, this week.
As for the Nominal Effective Exchange Rate (NEER) of the LBP, it slightly dropped by 0.12% over the past week, to close the week at 111.80 points.
International Forex Market
The dollar weakened this week as weekly mortgage applications sunk by 4.9%, over the week, reflecting homebuyers’ hesitation to buy. As such, the Euro-Dollar exchange rate rose from 1.1797 last week to 1.1848 this week.
Commodities
Gold prices rose from $1,252.78/ounce last week to $1,268.46/ounce this week.