Lebanon to devalue currency by 90% on Feb. 1, central bank chief says

A worker counts out Lebanese pound banknotes at a currency exchange kiosk in the Burj Hammoud district of Beirut, Lebanon, on Wednesday, May 11, 2022. Top Lebanese officials conceded they’ve made little headway in meeting the conditions set as part of a preliminary agreement with the International Monetary Fund, as they made a rare outreach to bondholders more than two years after the government’s debt default.

A worker counts out Lebanese pound banknotes at a currency exchange kiosk in the Burj Hammoud district of Beirut, Lebanon, on Wednesday, May 11, 2022. Top Lebanese officials conceded they’ve made little headway in meeting the conditions set as part of a preliminary agreement with the International Monetary Fund, as they made a rare outreach to bondholders more than two years after the government’s debt default. , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) — Lebanon will adopt a new official exchange rate of 15,000 pounds per US dollar on Feb. 1, central bank Governor Riad Salameh said, according to Reuters.

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That would mark a 90% devaluation from its current rate, which has been unchanged for 25 years, Reuters said. 

The change will apply to banks, Salameh said.

The new rate would still be someway off the 57,000 per dollar that the currency was trading at in the parallel market on Tuesday, Reuters said.

Source: https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/lebanon-to-devalue-currency-90-central-banker-says-reuters-1.1877414#:~:text=(Bloomberg)%20%2D%2D%20Lebanon%20will%20adopt,for%2025%20years%2C%20Reuters%20said.