Lebanese Lira Gains Back Value, Steered By the Government Formation

 10/09/202103/09/2021%ChangeYTD
Euro / LP1,781.691,787.63-0.33%-3.11%
Euro / Dollar1.18191.1858-0.33%-3.11%
NEER Index140.49140.070.30%12.54%

 

Lebanese Forex Market

To-date, the Lebanese Pound (LBP) remained steady within the official range of USD/LBP 1,514 to 1,514.5, with a mid- price of USD/LBP 1,514.25 in the week of September 10, 2021.

This week, President Aoun expressed hope that a new cabinet will soon be formed with Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati. As such, the Lebanese pound witnessed a modest appreciation during the week reaching a high of 19,500, however, after the spread of talks of an upcoming government early Friday, the parallel market exchange rate witnessed a substantial drawdown trading at 17,800 early morning and reaching a low of 16,000 after the official formation of the government. Moreover, ending the 13 months of political deadlock, the new government has to critically deal with the economic and financial crisis.

In turn, the dollarization ratio for private sector deposits decreased from 80.37% in December 2020 to 80.27% in June 2021.

As for Euro/LBP currency pair, the Euro depreciated against the dollar-pegged LBP with the currency pair going from last week €/LBP 1,787.63 to €/LBP 1781.69 by September 10, 2021. Moreover, the Nominal Effective Exchange Rate (NEER) of the LBP slightly increased by 0.30% since September 3rd 2021 to stand at 140.49 points on September 10, 2021.

International Forex Market

The Euro/USD depreciated against the dollar from last week €/USD 1.1858 to €/USD 1.1819 by September 10, 2021. Following the Euro gain last week, we observe a slight depreciation this week, as the European Central Bank (ECB) meeting is near, and it will include the latest growth and inflation forecasts.

The ECB signaled on Thursday that it will slightly reduce its bond purchases and net asset purchases over the coming quarter, which brought near losses to European stocks.

Moreover, the US dollar keeps pushing higher especially after US jobs report showed a strong stand, dropping 310,000 jobless claims last week.

Commodities

Gold price decreased by 1.46% at the end of this week to $1,796.5/ounce, as US dollar appreciated this week, following the positive US jobs report.

In addition, Crude oil prices dropped this week by 0.94% and recorded $72.76/Barrel, pressured by reports that China plans a release from its crude-oil reserve, in a move to ease commodity inflation. As well as traders expect a slow Gulf output recovery to hit U.S. supplies in coming weeks.

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