| 19/05/2023 | 12/05/2023 | %Change | YTD | |
| Euro / LP | 16,164.00 | 16,395.00 | -1.41% | 906.96% |
| Euro / Dollar | 1.0776 | 1.0930 | -1.41% | 1.20% |
| NEER Index | 119.06 | 118.17 | 0.75% | -30.18% |
Lebanese Forex Market
The Lebanese Pound (LBP) remained steady within the new official rate of USD/LBP 15,000 by May 19, 2023.
On the parallel market, the Lebanese national currency remain stable this week with an average of 94,500 LBP/USD. The pair LBP/USD recorded a minimum of 94,300 LBP/USD and a maximum of 94,600 LBP/USD during the course of this week. The Governor of BDL Riad Salameh stated this week that the central bank will always interfere in order to keep the value of the national currency in an acceptable range, and he stressed that he is ready to inject more dollars in the market.
As for the Euro/LBP currency pair, the Euro depreciated against the dollar-pegged LBP with the currency pair going from last week €/LBP 16,395 by May 12, 2023 to 16,164 by May 19, 2023. The Nominal Effective Exchange Rate (NEER) of the Lebanese pound went up by 0.75% weekly to stand at 119.06 points on May 19, 2023.
International Forex Market
This week, the US dollar appreciated against major currencies as the dollar index decreased by 1.36% on a weekly basis to 103.456 on May 19, 2023. During the week, the US has made a significant progress of reaching a deal regarding the debt ceiling. Importantly, speaker McCarthy, who expressed optimism about reaching a deal. He mentioned that he can now see the possibility of an agreement to be reached this weekend and added that the House could consider a deal next week
The Euro depreciated against the dollar by 1.14% to $1.0776. The depreciation of Euro against the dollar came in amid a strong dollar combined with European negative data. In details, the recent ZEW survey from Germany contributed to the negative sentiment as the expectations component declined for the third consecutive month in May, reaching -10.7 (vs. -5 expected).
The British pound retreated against the US dollar by -1.01% to stand at $1.2401 by the week ending May 19, 2023. During this week, the BoE governor Bailey stated that the central bank could accelerate the QT program, however, he stressed that the balance sheet of the central bank will not return as it was before the financial crisis.
This week, the USD/JPY increased by 2.51 % to reach 138.13 by May 19, 2023. Elsewhere, the Australian dollar depreciated by 0.63% on a weekly basis to stand at 0.6648 AUD/USD by May 19, 2023. In addition, the Canadian dollar depreciated by -0.07%% on a weekly basis to reach CAD 1.3484 for a US dollar.
Commodities
Gold markets retreated this week amid a stronger dollar, with gold prices decreasing by 2.07% to $1965.4/ounce. This decrease in gold prices this week came after Fed raised doubts over interest rate cuts this year.
Crude oil prices bounced back this week amid positive progress in negotiations regarding the debt ceiling. Accordingly, oil prices increased by 2.19% this week to $76.4/barrel.