The entrance of Banque du Liban's headquarters in Beirut. (Credit: João Sousa / L'Orient Today)
For the second time in less than two weeks, Banque du Liban (BDL) announced an increased exchange rate for its Sayrafa platform, this time to LL43,600 on the dollar.
The Sayrafa exchange rate stands below the parallel market rate (approximately LL64,000 on the dollar, as of Wednesday night) and is only used for certain types of transactions.
On Feb. 1 — the same day the new official exchange rate of LL15,000 per dollar was implemented — the Sayrafa rate was raised from LL38,000 to LL42,000 per dollar.
The new rate will apply to conversions of lira to dollars authorized by BDL circular No. 161, the mechanism used to circumvent the banking restrictions instituted in late 2021.
Public sector employees can continue to withdraw their salaries at the LL38,000 rate until the end of the month, according to another BDL decision adopted on Feb. 3.