A money changer in Beirut in September 2022. (Credit: Anwar Amro/AFP)
The Lebanese lira hit a new low on Tuesday, approaching of LL41,000 to the US dollar on the parallel market. The national currency's latest plummet comes as Lebanese authorities still have not adopted reforms aimed at curbing the economic and financial collapse in which the country has been mired for more than three years.
According to the Lirarate.org platform, the dollar was worth LL40,800 to buy and LL40,700 to sell, shortly after 12 p.m. on Tuesday.
The gap between this rate and that of the Sayrafa platform (LL30,300 on Monday evening), which was designed by Banque du Liban to try to stabilize the exchange rate, continues to widen, now amounting to more than LL10,000.
This new low follows last Wednesday's announcement by caretaker Finance Minister Youssef Khalil that he has asked BDL to calculate, as of Dec. 1, customs duties using an exchange rate of LL15,000 to the dollar, instead of the official exchange rate of LL 1,507.5, which is still, technically, in force.
The depreciation of the Lebanese lira, which has lost more than 96 percent of its value in three years, has, according to the UN, plunged more than three quarters of Lebanese below the poverty line.
The ongoing depreciation comes despite a preliminary agreement between Beirut and the International Monetary Fund, which calls for the introduction of a floating exchange rate.
The agreement also includes additional reforms that the Lebanese government must undertake in order to unlock financial assistance from the IMF.