Lebanon was forced to delay the launch of a new currency exchange platform run through Bloomberg due to months of shelling across the country's southern border between armed group Hezbollah and Israel, a senior central bank source told Reuters on Wednesday.

"What delayed us was the problems in the south and the inability (of foreigners involved in the launch) to come to Lebanon," the source said. (Reporting by Laila Bassam; Writing by Maya Gebeily)