Lira recovers as Salameh intervenes anew in market

Lebanon’s unofficial dollar exchange rate dropped by more than LBP 10,000 on Wednesday evening, shortly after Central Bank chief Riad Salameh announced that the bank will start buying and selling dollars at a Sayrafa platform rate of LBP 70,000.

The exchange rate had crossed the LBP 90,000 mark on the black market earlier in the day.

In a statement, Salameh said that as of Thursday, the Central Bank would start selling U.S. dollars and buying Lebanese pounds at a rate of LBP 70,000.

He added that requests should be made through commercial banks and that the sums would be paid within three days, setting a monthly cap of LBP 1 billion for each individual and LBP 10 billion for each company.

Salameh also noted that fuel importers cannot benefit from the new Sayrafa rate.