Mikati says devaluation of pound will be gradual

W300

Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati has reassured that the new official exchange rate of LBP 15,000 against the dollar will be implemented “gradually” and that initial exemptions will include banks' balance sheets and housing and personal loans.

The Lebanese pound has been officially pegged at 1,507 to the dollar since 1997, a rate that has not reflected reality for years as the currency has been in free-fall.

From November 1, "the Finance Ministry and the central bank agreed to adopt a rate of 15,000 Lebanese pounds for every U.S. dollar," the Ministry said on Wednesday, in a rate confirmed by the central bank.

The move was a "first step," the Ministry said, toward unifying Lebanon's multiple exchange rates -- a major prerequisite for the country to access IMF funding.

Comments 2
Thumb Bandoul over 1 year

Thieves x 15,000 + Infinity

Thumb i.report over 1 year

Another criminal pegging of the LBP to the USD…. But this guy isn’t Rafik Hariri in 1997 and doesn’t have what it takes to drive the country forward. It’s 2022, it’s either a free floating currency that will prove how incompetent all of them are or more currency pegging to cover up the incompetent crooks ruling Lebanon for some time… because eventually everything becomes visible.

Which other country had its currency pegged to the dollar? Argentina…. 22 years later, misery and despair remain the norm there.