The Euro Down Euro Zone Inflation’s remains below Target
Lebanese Forex Market
The Lebanese Pound steadied this week within the range of $/LP 1,514 – 1,514.5 against the dollar with a mid-price of $/LP 1,514.25.
The peg continues to be supported by the Central Bank’s solid foreign assets, which reached $40.88B by the end of November 2018.
The dollarization ratio of private sector deposits rose from 68.72% in December 2017 to 69.51% in October 2018.
Over the week, the Euro depreciated against the dollar-pegged LP, ending the week at €/LBP 1,719.15 compared to €/LBP. 1,727.73 last week.
In turn, the Nominal Effective Exchange Rate (NEER) of the LBP increased marginally by 0.25 % over the week, to 118.14 points on Jan.04, 2019.
International Forex Market
The Euro depreciated against the dollar this week. The currency pair went from last week’s 1.1461€/USD to 1.1404 €/USD. In fact, the US dollar recovered somewhat after the Commerce Ministry confirmed in a statement on Friday that the U.S. and China would begin another round of trade talks next week. Meanwhile, inflation in the euro zone stood at 1.6% in Dec.2018 compared to 1.9% in Nov.2018 as it remains below the target rate of 2%.
Commodities
Gold prices rose over the week, going from $1,275.13/ounce last week, to $1,293.61/ounce by the week ending Jan.04 2019. In fact, worries about the global economy slowdown continued to attract the safe-haven’s demand
