| 20/04/2023 | 13/04/2023 | %Change | YTD | |
| Euro / LP | 16,458.00 | 16,561.50 | -0.62% | 925.27% |
| Euro / Dollar | 1.0972 | 1.1041 | -0.62% | 3.04% |
| NEER Index | 117.80 | 117.55 | 0.21% | -30.92% |
Lebanese Forex Market
The Lebanese Pound (LBP) remained steady within the new official rate of USD/LBP 15,000 by April 20, 2023.
On the parallel market, the Lebanese national currency remained steady this week with an average of 97,140 LBP/USD. In more details, the pair LBP/USD recorded a minimum of 97,000 LBP/USD and a maximum of 97,500 LBP/USD during the course of this week mainly due to BDL’ s intervention in the market by granting dollar through Sayrafa. Moreover this week, Council of Ministers held a session Tuesday morning where MPs voted to grant the Central Bank of Lebanon authority to issue a new circular concerning control and limit on cash withdrawal, which it might reflect some positivity on the Lebanese exchange rate.
As for the Euro/LBP currency pair, the Euro slightly depreciated against the dollar-pegged LBP with the currency pair going from last week €/LBP 16,561.50 by April 13, 2023 to 16,458 by April 20, 2023. However, the Nominal Effective Exchange Rate (NEER) of the Lebanese pound went up slightly by 0.21% weekly to stand at 117.80 points on April 20, 2023.
International Forex Market
This week, the US dollar held its ground against its major rivals as DXY index traded 0.80% higher, from 101.01 previous week to 101.82 by April 20, 2023. The US Dollar kept its footing this week as traders continue to avoid risk-sensitive assets. Meanwhile, signs of sticky inflation and price pressures in major economies prompt a possibility for Central Banks to stick to their tight monetary policies at the cost of a slowdown in activity.
The Euro depreciated against the dollar by 0.65% to $1.0972 amid stronger US dollar. The pair has pulled back from the recent highs of 1.1075 as the US dollar recovers and markets are waiting data of ECB Bank survey on May 2 as well as April inflation data.
The British pound also retreated against the US dollar by 0.63% to stand at $1.2441 by the week ending April 20, 2023. The GBP/USD pair came under some selling pressure this week after Britain posted a 10.1% increase in its headlines CPI that marked the seventh month in double digits. The high inflation in UK ramped up bets for the BoE to boost interest rates this year thus exacerbating struggle among consumers and perhaps boost unemployment.
This week, the USD/JPY pair gained positive traction and maintained its position near a multi-week high at 134.61 by April 20, 2023. The recent risk across the global markets undermined the safe-haven Japanese Yen and made investors turning towards the Yen currency. Similarly, the Chinese Yuan appreciated against the dollar and stood at 6.8802 on a weekly basis.
Elsewhere, the Australian dollar depreciated by 0.69% on a weekly basis to stand at 0.6735 AUD/USD by April 20, 2023. In contrast, the Canadian dollar appreciated by 0.99% on a weekly basis touching CAD 1.3469 for a US dollar.
Commodities
Gold markets had a volatile week as prices dropped by a weekly 1.84% to reach $2,002.64/ ounce down from $2,040.22/ounce the previous week. The yellow metal remained a center even with rebounded US dollars. Nevertheless, Fed’s future rate hike would shape precious metal markets and impact investors’ moves.
Crude oil’ prices retreated remarkably by 5.19% to stand at $77.9/barrel on April 20, 2023 compared to $82.16/barrel in the previous week. Oil prices struggled this week and recorded a three-week low driven by concerns over lower demand outlook amid possible slowdown in global economy.
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