BEIRUT – Sayrafa, Banque du Liban's currency exchange platform, has just passed an important milestone by recording its billionth dollar since its launch.
Here’s what we know:
• The total US dollar amount recorded since the platform's launch surpassed $1 billion yesterday.
• The bulk of the volume, around 68 percent, was recorded in the last two months. In December the platform recorded $219 million, or 21.34 percent of the total, while in January, the amount recorded up to Jan. 27 is $475 million, or 46.33 percent of the total.
• As the data shows, the amounts recorded by the platform have increased dramatically since the release of BDL Circular 161 in mid-December.
• The counter value in lira since June is around LL21 trillion, with LL14 trillion being recorded since Dec.16. The weighted average rate since the launch of the platform is LL20,542 to the US dollar, close to the LL20,000 to the dollar exchange rate being estimated by the Finance Ministry in its budget report for the year 2022.
• Banque du Liban’s balance sheet continues to show a drop in foreign currency reserves and an increase in money in circulation. Inflation is still running in the double digits and recorded its highest reading so far in December.
• The impact on the central bank’s balance sheet, following the massive injection of US dollar banknotes, should show up when the central bank releases its balance sheet at the end of the month.
• Finance Minister Youssef Khalil said during a recent televised interview that the Finance Ministry considers the recent convergence between the parallel market rate and the Sayrafa rate as an important development towards the adoption of the Sayrafa rate as the new official exchange rate.
