Lebanese Currency Hits Historic Low, Exchanges 100,000 Lebanese Pound to $1

 

The Lebanese currency has crashed to a new low exchanging 100,000 Lebanese pound to $1.

 

The historic low against the dollar happened on the parallel market on Tuesday.

 

The latest setback has plunged most of the population into poverty.

 

Officially pegged at 15,000 to the dollar, the pound was trading at 100,000 against the greenback, dealers said — a dizzying plunge from 1,507 before the economic crisis hit in 2019.

 

The currency’s market value was at around 60,000 to the dollar in late January.

 

The currency plunge has triggered price hikes including on fuel, food and other basic goods, with supermarkets this month starting to price items in dollars.

 

Despite the gravity of the crisis, the political elite, which has been widely blamed for the country’s financial collapse, has failed to take action.

 

Since last year, the country has had no president and only a caretaker government, amid persistent deadlock between rival factions.

“The lira has become completely worthless,” said 75-year-old Abu Abbas, who owns a small jewellery stall on Beirut’s busy Hamra Street and said he was barely making ends meet.

 

“I used to buy medicine for my wife for 40,000 pounds, now it costs 900,000,” he told AFP.