Lebanese Forex Market
The Lebanese Pound steadied within the range of $/LP 1,514-1,514.5 against the dollar with a mid-price of $/LP 1,514.25.
The peg continues to be supported by the Central Bank’s solid foreign assets, which reached $43.52 billion (B) in September 2018.
The dollarization ratio of private sector deposits rose marginally, from 68.72% in December 2017 to 68.80% by August 2018.
Over the past week, the Euro weakened against the dollar-pegged LP, as it went from €/LBP 1,746.74 last week to €/LBP 1,725.64 this week.
As for the Nominal Effective Exchange Rate (NEER) of the LBP, it rose by a weekly 0.03% to stand at 118.44 points.
International Forex Market
The dollar weakened this week against the euro, as the €/$ exchange rate fell by 1.21% from €/$ 1.1587 to €/$ 1.1447. The euro declined during the week after the European Commission said Italy’s 2019 budget draft is in serious breach of EU budget rules.
Commodities
Gold prices increased over the week from $1,224.06 per ounce last week to $1229.05/ounce this week.