BEIRUT - Lebanon's central bank will continue to allow banks to purchase dollars with no ceiling via the bank's Sayrafa exchange platform until the end of August, the bank said in a statement on Thursday.

The central bank's intervention in the currency market via Sayrafa began in January and initially led the pound to appreciate in value to around 23,000 pounds per U.S. dollar, up from an all-time low of 34,000.

The pound has since depreciated to a rate of around 30,000 pounds to the dollar on the parallel market in July.

 

(Reporting by Timour Azhari; Editing by Gareth Jones)