BEIRUT: The Lebanese pound was down on the black market Tuesday, trading at 14,750 to the dollar, as the newly ratified government announced it had begun talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Exchange dealers said they were buying the dollar at LL14,700 and selling it at LL14,800 on the black market, a fall of LL500 since Monday, when the greenback was worth LL14,250.

Prime Minister Nijab Mikati's new Cabinet won a vote of confidence in Parliament Monday night, where he said talks had begun to secure bankrupt Lebanon a bailout from the IMF.

The country has been hit by a severe recession since 2019, which has seen the pound lose 90 percent of its value and three-quarters of the population pushed into poverty.

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