The Lebanese pound continues to fall on the black market this Friday, with a parity rate of 16,025 LL / USD to buy and 16,075 LL / USD to sell early in the morning. The Lebanese pound has now lost more than 90% of its value against the dollar over the past 2 years.
As a reminder, if the official parity rate is still 1507 LL / USD, the Lebanese authorities are now considering using the 3 900 LL / USD rate to finance the purchase of certain subsidized products such as fuels, the prices of which have been reduced. also strong increase.
The Banque du Liban is singled out by observers who note that the main parameter explaining this decline in the national currency is linked to the mass printing of Lebanese pounds, nearly 40,000 billion pounds over the past 2 years, leading to a significant increase in the money supply. In addition, following the publication of Circular 158, private banks bought on the local market large quantities of foreign currency in order to allow the withdrawal of USD 400 per month per depositor who would like it when they are already lacking. foreign liquidity to finance their current operations.
Finally, the imminent lifting of the Bank of Lebanon’s purchase subsidy program, due to the lack of available monetary reserves could further worsen the economic situation with additional inflationary pressure which had been contained until now and due to the lack of production of goods to high value added in sufficient quantity to offset the trade deficit of a net importing country.
