The Central Bank of Lebanon said in a statement on Thursday that the bank will continue to allow commercial banks to buy any amount of dollars at the exchange rate platform.
According to the Lebanese National Agency, the Governor of the Banque du Liban, Riad Salameh, announced in a statement that he “reaffirmed the continuation of selling the US dollar against the Lebanese pound according to the price of the “exchange” platform for banks and without a specific ceiling, as was agreed upon during the meeting held on December 11. The second 2022 headed by Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Finance Minister Youssef Khalil.
According to the National Agency, Salameh confirmed that “the daily trading volume on the “exchange” platform does not represent intervention operations by the Banque du Liban in the dollar money market, nor the volume of its intervention,” explaining that “the exchange” platform does not only include the operations carried out by the Banque du Liban. With banks, but all dollar buying and selling transactions that take place in the market between those registered on this platform through banks and money changers are recorded on it, even if the Banque du Liban does not interfere in it.”
The central bank’s intervention in the currency market, which began last week, led to an increase in the value of the Lebanese pound to about 23 thousand pounds to the dollar, up from 34,000 pounds earlier this month.
The policy, agreed at a meeting between Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Finance Minister Youssef Khalil and Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh on Jan. 11, has been criticized as unsustainable for its use of limited dollar reserves to prop up the exchange rate.