Crisis-hit Lebanon ready to float pound after aid: Finance minister

Crisis-hit Lebanon ready to float pound after aid: Finance minister

"When we receive financial support from abroad, we will transition to floatation" according to the market, Wazni said. BEIRUT: Lebanon, whose currency has been pegged to the dollar for 23 years, is ready to float the pound only after it secures billions in aid, Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni said Friday.. 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.. "The IMF always asks for the freeing of the pound's exchange rate," Wazni said.. "The Lebanese government has asked for a transitional period to pass through a flexible exchange rate before we reach floatation," he added.. Tunisia started easing strict confinement measures last week. But for the fifth consecutive day no new cases were registered in the North African country which has declared 1,032 cases of coronavirus, including 45 deaths, since March 2..