Demand for the dollar steadied over the prior week as reflected by the Lebanese pound’s peg against the dollar that remained at $/LP 1,510-1,514 with a mid-price of $/LP 1,512, since the 4th of September, 2014. Foreign assets (excluding gold) at the Central Bank rose by a monthly 1.15% from $38.42B at end-September to $38.87B by end-October. Meanwhile, the dollarization rate of private sector deposits stood at 65.87% in September compared to 66.13% in December 2013.
Outlook for global inflation decreased as the OPEC meeting on the 27th of November abstained from reducing output. The euro improved slightly against the dollar by 0.06%, ending the week at €/$ 1.2447.
Demand for gold fell this week as slumping oil prices increased forecasts of a dampening of consumer prices, reducing demand for an inflation hedge. The price of gold went down from $1,193.44/ounce last Thursday to $1,191.25/ounce this week.
By Friday November 28th, 2014, 12:30 pm Beirut time, the dollar-pegged LP depreciated against the euro going from €/LP 1,875.18, the prior week, to €/LP 1,876.39. The Nominal effective exchange Rate (NEER) gained 0.04%, weekly, to 142.87 points, where its year-to-date gain reached 10.70%.