Unparalleled Surge in Number of Citizens Filing for US Jobless Claims Weighed Down on the US Dollar

Lebanese Forex Market

The Lebanese Pound (LP) remained steady within the official range of $/LP 1,514 – 1,514.5 against the dollar, with a mid-price of $/LP 1,514.25 by the week ending March 27th 2020.

The peg also continues to be supported by the Central Bank’s total foreign assets, which settled at $35.75B by mid-March 2020.

In turn, the dollarization ratio of Private sector deposits surged to 76.70% in January 2020, up from 70.87% recorded during the same period in 2019.

Over the week ending March 27th, the Euro appreciated vis-à-vis the dollar-pegged LP as the currency pair went from last week’s €/LBP 1,618.26 to this week’s €/LBP 1,659.58. In turn, the Nominal Effective Exchange Rate (NEER) of the LP fell by a weekly 0.67% to stand at               122.76 points.

International Forex Market

The Euro/USD currency pair went from last week’s €/USD 1.0735 to €/USD 1.1009 by March 27th 2020. In fact, the US Dollar (USD) fell to historical lows this week with 3.3 million Americans filing for unemployment benefits, compared to 285,000 the previous month. This signals the devastating impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the US economy.

Moreover, the Euro benefitted from the dollar weakness over the week appealing to investors as a safe haven currency. Moreover, the Euro also edged up slightly this week owing it to the rigorous efforts of EU nations to ramp up fiscal stimulus to protect the Eurozone from the pandemic.

Commodities

Amid the globally intensifying coronavirus pandemic and the US dollar losing its rank as a safe haven currency to worried investors, international gold prices this week went back up by a weekly 8.2% to reach $1,620.7/ounce.

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