Lebanon to devalue currency — central bank official

Lebanon to devalue currency — central bank official

BEIRUT — Lebanon will weaken its official exchange rate for the first time in more than two decades, a central bank official said, as part of efforts to tackle a crippling financial crisis.

The exchange rate has been officially pegged at 1,507 Lebanese pounds to the dollar since 1997, but will drop to 15,000 to the greenback at the end of October, the official told AFP on condition of anonymity. 

With the Lebanese pound trading at beyond 38,000 to the dollar on the black market — close to a record low — analysts are sceptical that this step could stabilise a currency that has been in free-fall for three years.