Uncertainty over Interest Rate Hikes Weakens the Dollar

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 while BDL’s foreign assets stood at $41.9B by November 2017.

The dollarization ratio of private sector deposits rose from 65.82% in December 2016 to 67.27% by the end of October 2017.

Over the past two weeks, the Euro appreciated against the dollar-pegged LP going from €/LBP 1,786.09 on December 22 to €/LBP 1,820.45, on January 5, 2018.

As for the Nominal Effective Exchange Rate (NEER) of the LBP, it dropped by 1.28% over the past 2 weeks, to close the week at 110.50 points.

International Forex Market

The dollar weakened after the Federal Reserve left its rate outlook for the coming year unchanged. As such, the Euro-Dollar exchange rate rose from 1.1848 two weeks ago to 1.2076 this week. 

Commodities

Gold prices rose from $1,268.46/ounce last week to $1,316.67/ounce this week.

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