Lebanon central bank to use an exch. rate of 15,000 pounds per US dollar as of Feb 1

Lebanon central bank to use an exch. rate of 15,000 pounds per US dollar as of Feb 1

BEIRUT, Nov 21 (Reuters) – Lebanon’s central bank will adopt an exchange rate of 15,000 Lebanese pounds per U.S. dollar as of Feb. 1 as part of a process to unify the country’s multiple exchange-rate system, Lebanese central bank governor Riad Salameh said on Monday.

The central bank’s official rate has been set at 1,507 pounds per U.S. dollar for 25 years but that valuation has become all but defunct since a 2019 financial implosion that has caused the currency to lose more than 95% of its value.

The parallel market exchange rate has recently been was hovering at around 40,000 pounds per dollar