Euro Down: ECB postpones rate hike & slashes economic forecasts

Lebanese Forex Market

The Lebanese Pound (LP) steadied this week 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 $38.9B by the end of February 2019.

The dollarization ratio of private sector deposits slid from 68.44% in January 2018 to 67.19% in January 2019.

The Euro depreciated against the dollar-pegged LP, to end the week at €/LBP 1,688.19, compared to last week’s €/LBP 1,713.03           

Over the week, the Nominal Effective Exchange Rate (NEER) of the LBP added 0.77% over the week to 118.36 points.

International Forex Market

The euro was outpaced by the dollar by the week ending March 8th, such that the currency pair lost a weekly 1.45% to end the week at €/USD 1.1199. In fact, the Euro took a hit this week as the European Central Bank (ECB) on Thursday delayed its first post-crisis interest rate hike to 2020 at least, slashed growth and inflation forecasts for 2020 and 2021, and it also relaunched its policy stimulus in the form of offering long-term bank loans, in an attempt to revive the economy. The ECB measures this week weighed down on the euro, as investors expect a grim economic outlook for the Eurozone.

Commodities

Accordingly, gold prices slipped over the week to $1,292.6/ounce by March 8th, compared to last week’s $1,306.36/ounce.

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