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Lira continues freefall, trades at LL77,000 to the dollar on parallel market


Lira continues freefall, trades at LL77,000 to the dollar on parallel market

A money exchange vendor holds stacks of Lebanese lira banknotes at a shop in Beirut, Lebanon Jan. 19, 2023. (Credit: Mohamed Azakir/Reuters)

BEIRUT — The Lebanese lira hit a new record low Wednesday morning on the parallel market, trading at around LL77,000 to the dollar on the parallel market as the country struggles from an unprecedented crisis since 2019.

According to the Lirarate.org platform, the dollar was buying at LL77,000 and selling at LL76,500 at around 11:400 a.m. Wednesday morning.

The gap between the parallel market rate and that of the Sayrafa platform (LL43,600) — designed by Banque du Liban in an attempt to stabilize the exchange rate — continues to widen, now amounting to approximately LL33,400.

The latest fall follows a strike by Lebanese banks, announced last Tuesday, in protest of a judiciary decision against Fransabank.

The strike will continue until further notice, the Association of Banks in Lebanon reiterated on Tuesday, following rumors it would lift the strike.

The lira's accelerated collapse in recent days also comes after the official exchange rate was amended to t LL15,000 to the dollar, after decades of a fixed official rate at LL1,507.5.

BDL has, on repeated occasions over the past three years, succeeded in slowing the pace of the lira’s depreciation, but it appears the maneuvers of the central bank have lost their impact.

The fall indicates that actors in the Lebanese economic scene have lost all confidence in the ruling class's ability to tackle the country’s problems, Marwan Barakat, head of research at Bank Audi, previously told L'Orient-Le Jour.

BEIRUT — The Lebanese lira hit a new record low Wednesday morning on the parallel market, trading at around LL77,000 to the dollar on the parallel market as the country struggles from an unprecedented crisis since 2019.According to the Lirarate.org platform, the dollar was buying at LL77,000 and selling at LL76,500 at around 11:400 a.m. Wednesday morning.The gap between the parallel market...