Lebanon cenbank says to continue selling dollars at Sayrafa rate ‘without amendment’

Lebanon’s central bank will continue to allow commercial banks to purchase US dollars on its Sayrafa platform rate, it said on Tuesday, in response to rumors it had halted purchases following the country’s parliamentary election.

A statement by the bank said the purchases, which began in January, could take place “as usual, without amendment.”

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The policy has been criticized as unsustainable for using limited US dollar reserves to prop up the local currency, which has lost more than 90 percent of its value since the economic crisis began in 2019.

The lira reached 30,000 pounds to the greenback on Tuesday, a fall of several thousand pounds since Sunday’s election.

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