| 24/02/2023 | 17/02/2023 | %Change | YTD | |
| Euro / LP | 15,879.00 | 16,041.00 | -1.01% | 889.20% |
| Euro / Dollar | 1.0586 | 1.0694 | -1.01% | -0.58% |
| NEER Index | 117.03 | 116.74 | 0.25% | -31.37% |
Lebanese Forex Market
The Lebanese Pound (LBP) remained steady within the new official rate of USD/LBP 15,000 by February 24, 2023.
Meanwhile on the parallel market, the Lebanese national currency continued a steady decline against the dollar. The average Lebanese exchange rate crumbled below the levels of last week and registered 80,563 compared to an average of 71,900 LBP/USD in the previous week, with a minimum of 77,000 LBP/USD and a maximum of 82,000 LBP/USD by the end of the week February 24, 2023.
As for the Euro/LBP currency pair, the Euro depreciated against the dollar-pegged LBP with the currency pair going from last week €/LBP 16,041 by February 17, 2023 to €/LBP 15,879 by February 24, 2023. Moreover, the Nominal Effective Exchange Rate (NEER) of the Lebanese pound added 0.25% weekly to stand at 117.03 points on February 24, 2023.
International Forex Market
This week, the US dollar traded on a positive territory as data showed preliminary GDP coming higher than estimated along with a tight labor market. Consequently, the index added 0.83% on a weekly basis and traded at 104.722 by Friday February 24, 2023.
The Euro depreciated against the dollar by 0.97% to $1.0591. The European currency struggles to hold near 1,06 levels as the U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to continue raising interest rates in order to combat inflation.
GBP/USD traded on a negative note this week at $1.2031, 0.05% lower from previous week. Figures published earlier this month showed that the UK GDP contracted by 0.5% in December, as the economy flatlined over the final quarter of 2022 to narrowly avoid a technical recession. Furthermore, The Bank of England projects that the British economy has entered a shallow recession in the first quarter of 2023.
On Friday, the Yen/Dollar reached its highest level since December 20, 2022 as investors increase bets on the Federal Reserve continuing its aggressive interest rate hike campaign. Indeed, the Yen appreciated by 0.77% to stand at $135.18 by February 24, 2023, compared to the previous week. Moreover, the future chair of the Bank of Japan Kazuo Ueda pointed out that inflation was unlikely to remain at high levels for long and that the central bank should continue its course. Ueda also signaled that the transition to a new governor was probably going to be smooth, thus a sudden change in monetary policy doesn’t seem likely.
In China, the Yuan traded higher by 1.01% standing at $6.94 by February 24, 2023. Indeed, China’s Yuan strengthened against the US dollar on Friday based on investor optimism that recent policy support measures and reopening will bolster an economic recovery in the country. Meanwhile, the Australian dollars depreciated by 1.45% on a weekly basis to stand at 0.6779 AUD/USD by February 24, 2023.
Commodities
Gold prices dropped by 1.05% to stand at $1,822.93/ ounce on February 24, 2023, compared to $1,842.36/ ounce in the previous week. In fact, gold fell for the second straight week as the dollar strengthened and based on the outlook for more interest rate increases from the Federal Reserve. Indeed, tighter US monetary policy tends to diminish the appeal of non-interest bearing gold.
Crude oil’ prices fell slightly by 0.48% to stand at $75.97/ barrel on February 24, 2023, compared to $76.34/ barrel in the previous week after data from the American Petroleum Institute showed a substantial rise of 9.895 million barrel of US crude oil inventories this week compared to the previous week.