A currency exchanger holding a wad of US dollars. (Credit: Joseph Eid/AFP)
BEIRUT — The Lebanese lira dropped another LL1,000 to LL37,000 to the US dollar.
Here’s what we know:
• The online platform lirarate.org indicated a buy price of LL37,000 and a selling price of LL36,950 for one US dollar.
• The gap between the parallel market rate and the BDL platform Sayrafa rate (LL24,600 as of Thursday night) continues to widen, surpassing LL12,400 at the time of writing.
• The lira’s slide in value interrupts a cycle of relative stability which lasted for almost a month during which the lira-to-US dollar rate fluctuated between LL25,000 and LL27,000. The plummeting value is attributed to speculators betting against the lira in the face of the economic crisis, banking restrictions and political uncertainty.
• The continuing depreciation in value since the start of the crisis in 2019 has pushed more than three-quarters of Lebanese citizens under the poverty line and decimated their purchasing power. The lira continues to depreciate despite a preliminary agreement between Lebanon and the International Monetary Fund which would allocate $3 billion over a four-year period to help Lebanon deal with its multiple crises. The IMF had supplied a plan detailing the necessary reforms which the Lebanese government would need to undertake to unblock the aid funds.