BEIRUT: The dollar rate on the black market retreated Saturday, trading at an average of LL7,600 after the reopening of Rafik Hariri International Airport permitted travelers to bring large amount of dollar banknotes into the country.
The black market dollar was being sold at roughly LL7,400 Saturday and bought for LL7,900.
The sudden drop comes as a surprise after the US dollar surged to LL10,000 Thursday on the black market and then retreated by LL2,000 as the Central Bank pledged to provide lenders with hard currency to finance imports.
The head of the Syndicate of Money Changers, Mahmoud Halawi told The Daily Star Friday that travelers are bringing dollar banknotes into the country and this has helped ease demand for the greenback on the black market.
The airport is the main facility to move the Lebanese economy ... We place great importance on the return of expatriates and tourists to Lebanon, Public Works and Transport Minister Michel Najjar was quoted as saying to local media Saturday.
Central Bank Gov. Riad Salameh Friday confirmed that trading would start in dollars through exchangers the upcoming week, in particular regarding the importation of goods, local media reported.
The Central Bank has been supplying the licensed exchange dealers with around $3.5 million a day which were mainly generated from the dollars sent to the Lebanese through Western Union and other money transfer companies.
Salameh and the President of the Association of Banks in Lebanon Salim Sfeir agreed with the government Thursday to supply importers with dollar banknotes to buy goods from abroad at a rate of LL3,200.
BDL and the Economy Ministry are also planning to subsidize 280 consumption items at a rate of LL3,200 and this is expected to lower the prices of these goods at supermarkets and stores as well as drastically decrease the demand on the dollar in the black market.
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