Lebanon’s Currency Value Plunges to 100,000 Against US Dollar

The Lebanese pound, officially pegged at 15,000 to the dollar, was trading at 100,000 against the greenback, dealers said on Tuesday – a dizzying plunge from 1,507 before the economic crisis hit in 2019.

The currency’s market value was at about 60,000 to the dollar in late January.

Despite the gravity of the crisis, the political elite, which has been widely blamed for the country’s financial collapse, has failed to check the currency’s free fall.

Since last year, the country has had no president and only a caretaker government, amid persistent deadlock between rival alliances in parliament.

Lebanese banks that have long imposed draconian withdrawal restrictions – essentially locking depositors out of their life savings – were closed on Tuesday as they resumed an open-ended strike.

The strike began early last month to protest against what the Association of Banks in Lebanon described as “arbitrary” judicial measures against lenders after depositors filed lawsuits to retrieve savings.

In response to the lawsuits, some judges sought to seize the funds of bank directors or board members or to force lenders to pay out customers’ dollar deposits in pounds at the old 1,507 exchange rate.