The Lebanese pound continues to crumble in a wholly unreasonable black market move, a day after Saad Hariri’s bid for the next prime minister was announced to be withdrawn, 11 months after incumbent Prime Minister Hassan Diab resigned
The parity of the Lebanese pound now reaches 23,350 LL / USD to buy and 23,450 LL / USD to sell, a collapse induced by a kind of panic of part of the population as the prospects for the release of economic aid from the international community is waning for lack of a functional cabinet.
However, the fundamentals are identical, with even a slight improvement after the confirmation, still yesterday, of the IMF that 860 million dollars will be granted to Lebanon within the framework of the special drawing rights of the institution within 2 months. This aid should therefore be paid to the Banque du Liban.
It seems to have great difficulty now in controlling the currency market locally. Rumors today denied indicated that the BdL had raised the rate of its Sayrafa electronic platform to 15,100 LL / USD instead of 12,000 LL / USD. These false rumors were intended to further destabilize an already unstable and grassroots market. Sources estimate that some speculators are betting on a brutal degradation of the Lebanese pound while social and economic conditions also continue to deteriorate.
This new surge in the Lebanese pound could respond to another surge, that of the street, while 77% of the population had difficulty in being able to finance the purchase of food, 33% of children even sleep hungry, accused the authors of a UNICEF report.
Now with a 93% loss in value within 2 years, the minimum wage is less than $ 30 and the median wage is $ 97. Half of the population that works in the Land of Cedars would now only have this amount. Unofficial sources estimate that 75% of the population would now be below the poverty line, or on less than $ 3 a day.
