The lira is now trading at LL30,000 to the US dollar on the parallel market. (Credit: Joseph Eid/AFP)
BEIRUT — The holidays brought a brief respite to the currency market; however, the opening days of 2022 have brought a new record low for the national currency. In just four days, or two business days, the lira added another 8 percent in losses and is trading for the first time at LL30,000 to the US dollar.
Here’s what we know:
• The lira has now lost 95 percent of its value compared to the official peg of LL1,507.5 to the dollar, and the LL30,000 rate is 20 times the initial peg.
• The monthly minimum wage of LL675,000 is now equivalent to $22.5, among the world’s lowest, and barely covers 40 liters of car fuel or two tanks of household gas.
• Year-on-year inflation is 201.07 percent as of November 2020, and prices are up sevenfold since November 2019.
• The central bank’s foreign assets stand at $12.5 billion, down $6 billion for the year, and down $19 billion from the end of 2019.
• Lebanon's cabinet has not met since Oct. 12 following a dispute over Judge Tarek Bitar’s role in the port blast probe.
• A long-awaited capital control draft law is once again being discussed at the Finance and Budget Committee.
• Lirafying part of the US dollar deposits in Lebanon’s banks is under discussion as the main tool to deal with the financial sector’s losses, which stand at $68-69 billion, according to Deputy Prime Minister Saade Chami.
• The Lebanese economy is set to contract another 8.2 percent in 2021, according to a Bloomberg survey. This would be the fourth year of negative economic growth since 2018.