Euro Depreciated Amid Uncertainty in France’s Election
Lebanese Forex Market
Demand for the dollar on the Lebanese forex market dropped over the past week, going from $/LP 1,514.25 within the range $/LP 1,514 – 1,514.5 on February 3 to a mid-price of $/LP 1,514 within the range $/LP 1,513.75 – 1,514.25 on Friday.
Foreign assets (excluding gold) at the Central Bank increased 9.75% since the beginning of the year to $40.71B by December 2016. The dollarization ratio of private sector deposits slightly hiked from 64.88% in Dec.2015 to 65.30% in November 2016.
By Friday February 10, 2017, the euro depreciated against the dollar-pegged LP over the last week, going from €/LBP 1,619.36 on January 27 to €/LBP 1,604.28 on February 10. As for the Nominal Effective Exchange Rate (NEER) of the LBP, it decreased by 0.08% over the past week to stand at 117.42 points.
International Forex Market:
The dollar appreciated against the euro this week due to the uncertainty prevailing in coming elections in France as well as the Fed’s plans of an interest-rate hike in March. Hence, the euro fell from €/$ 1.0742 in the last week to €/$1.0642 this week.
Commodities:
Over the week, gold prices increased from $1,211.59/ounce on February 3 to $1,225.40/ounce this week.
