Lebanese pound rises for third day in a row on black market

PHOTO

BEIRUT: The Lebanese pound rose for a third straight day Thursday, trading at around LL8,300 against the dollar.

Money exchangers on the black market were initially selling the dollar for LL8,700 and buying for LL8,500, however the rate later dropped to LL8,500 and LL8,000 respectively.

According to a person familiar with black market transactions, there was a lot of dollar liquidity in the black market Thursday.

The exchange rate on the Central Banks Sayrafa electronic platform was set at LL3,900 for selling the dollar and LL3,850 for buying it.

The head of the Money Changers Syndicate Mahmoud Halawi told The Daily Star Wednesday that the black market was experiencing a shortage of Lebanese banknotes, since the Central Bank had decreased the amount of Lebanese pound banknote injections to lenders.

The pound was trading at LL8,800 Wednesday, recording a slight rise in value, a day after the Central Bank announced its plan to secure dollars at a rate of LL3,900 for importers, which according to Halawi could be one of the reasons why the demand for dollars on the black market had slightly decreased.

Disclaimer: The content of this article is syndicated or provided to this website from an external third party provider. We are not responsible for, and do not control, such external websites, entities, applications or media publishers. The body of the text is provided on an as is and as available basis and has not been edited in any way. Neither we nor our affiliates guarantee the accuracy of or endorse the views or opinions expressed in this article. Read our full disclaimer policy here.