Euro Hits 11 Year low at 1.097 This Week
Demand for the dollar increased over the week, as reflected by the Lebanese pound’s peg against the dollar that went from $/LP 1,509-1,513 with a mid-price of $/LP 1,511 to $/LP 1,510-1,514 with a mid-price of $/LP 1,512 this week. Foreign assets (excluding gold) at the Central Bank rose by a monthly 2.71% to $38.89B by end-February. Meanwhile, the dollarization rate of private sector deposits stood at 65.68% in November 2014 compared to 66.13% in December 2013.
After falling to an 11.5 year low against the dollar on Thursday,the Euro/Dollar rate ended the week at €/$1.0967 from €/$1.1222 previously. This was caused from the ECB’s official detailed stimulus program of 60B Euros a month, starting next week.
Even after Janet Yellen’s comments on postponing a rise in interest rates to the second half of the year, the dollar strengthened thus pushing gold prices down to $1,198.20/ounce this week compared to $1,208.30/ounce on Thursday 27th of February.
By Friday March 27th, 2015, 12:30 pm Beirut time, the dollar-pegged LP appreciated against the Euro, going from €/LP 1,691.72 the prior week, to €/LP 1,653.28. The Nominal effective exchange Rate (NEER) gained 1.50% over the week to 161.65 points, with its year-to-date gain reaching 9.73%.
