Tough Week for Europe; USD and Euro Reached Parity for the first Time sine 2002

 15/07/202208/07/2022%ChangeYTD
Euro / LP1,514.831,528.05-0.87%-11.34%
Euro / Dollar1.00491.0136-0.87%-11.34%
NEER Index166.81166.210.36%11.30%

Lebanese Forex Market

To-date, the Lebanese Pound (LBP) remained steady within the official range of USD/LBP 1,514 to 1,514.5, with a mid- price of USD/LBP 1,514.25 by 15 July, 2022.

For the third consecutive week, the Lebanese national currency has succeeded to maintain its stability in the parallel market at an approximate rate of LBP/USD 29,300 as it showed some resilience against the political tension between Lebanon and Israel concerning the sea border conflict.

As for the Euro/LBP currency pair, the Euro depreciated against the dollar-pegged LBP with the currency pair going from last week €/LBP 1,528.05 to €/LBP 1,514.83 by May 15, 2022. Moreover, the Nominal Effective Exchange Rate (NEER) of the Lebanese pound slightly increased weekly by 0.36% to stand at 166.81 points on May 15, 2022.

International Forex Market

The Euro/USD depreciated against the dollar from last week from €/USD 1.0136 to €/USD 1.0049 by July 15, 2022. On Tuesday, the Euro and USD reached parity for the first time since 2002, before it bounced back by the end of this week. In fact, the energy supply crisis, economic problems, and the geopolitical tensions between Russia and the West, are all putting giant pressure on the euro’s value.

Commodities

Gold prices decreased this week by 1.66% by the end of this week to $1,705.29/ounce. The CPI inflation rate that was released this week rose 9.1% more than expected, as analyst speculates that the Fed will take some aggressive measures by increasing rates by 100bps in their next meeting later this month. Doing so, will increase the value of US dollar and will push gold price down due to the negative correlation between the two assets.

Crude oil prices decreased this week by 3.23% and recorded $101.19/barrel, amid some strong signals over a global recession that will decrease the demand for petroleum product.

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