Lebanon central bank official probed over currency crash

Lebanon central bank official probed over currency crash

The central bank denied charges of manipulation in a statement that detailed recent transactions with money traders. BEIRUT: Lebanon's financial prosecutor questioned a top central bank manager on Friday over the country's financial crisis, including the free fall of the Lebanese currency, a judicial official said.. In a statement, the central bank said it was lifting banking secrecy rules to show transactions between the bank and private money traders, to respond to the prosecutor's allegations.. "There are no manipulations in the exchange market as a result of transactions with the central bank," it said.. In recent days, authorities have cracked down on currency exchange bureaus as the Lebanese pound, pegged to the dollar for more than 20 years, lost 60% of its value in weeks.. The black market rate has reached over 4,200 pounds to the pound in recent days.. Crisis-hit Lebanon ready to float pound after aid: Finance minister /node/1675106/middle-east. A hard currency crunch in recent months has strained the official fixed rate of 1,507 to the dollar, with the pound losing more than half of its value to fetch well over 4,000 on the black market..