Salameh tells citizens to head to AMBank to benefit from 38,000 rate

Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh on Wednesday said citizens can head to any AMBank branch to carry out Sayrafa currency exchanges at the LBP 38,000 rate should their bank refuse to conduct the transaction.

“The aforementioned bank has agreed to carry out these operations,” Salameh added, in a statement.

He also called on “banks willing to take a similar step to submit a request to the central bank so that it gets approved.”

Salameh’s move comes after the owners of fuel stations and distributors decried that they have not been able to buy dollars from commercial banks at the new Sayrafa rate. Refusing to suffer losses, the majority of stations closed across Lebanon as long queues formed at those that remained open.

The black market dollar exchange rate had witnessed a dramatic drop on Tuesday after Salameh announced that banks would start selling dollars to the public at a Sayrafa platform rate of LBP 38,000.

Salameh also said Tuesday that “individuals and institutions, and without sum limits, can apply to all Lebanese banks to carry out these operations until further announcement.”

The black market rate had reached the LBP 48,000 mark on Monday.