Explainer: What is behind Lebanon's new exchange rate? - Al-Monitor: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Adam Lucente

Adam Lucente

Feb 1, 2023

A money changer counts notes at his shop in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, on Sept. 22, 2022. — A money changer counts notes at his shop in the Lebanon's capital, Beirut, on Sept. 22, 2022. — ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images

Lebanese protesters demonstrate against the monetary policies of Lebanon's Central Bank governor in the capital Beirut on January 25, 2023. - European investigators will question Lebanon's central bank chief Riad Salameh (portraits) next month as part of a probe into his and his brother's affairs, a judicial official told AFP earlier this week. Investigators from France, Germany and Luxembourg heard witnesses in Beirut last week as part of the case of suspected financial misconduct including possible money

Lebanon's pound hits new bottom, ahead of Riad Salameh interrogation

Adam Lucente

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

A man walks past a money exchange company, Beirut, Lebanon, Oct. 1, 2019.

Lebanon to shift to new official lira-to-dollar exchange rate

Hanan Hamdan

A Lebanese protester flashes the V-sign for victory and shouts slogans as others vandalise banks in Beirut on February 16, 2023, one day after the Lebanese pound hit a record low against the dollar on the black market. - The country's grinding political and economic crises shows no signs of abating as the pound has lost more than 95 percent of its value against the greenback since the start of the economic collapse in 2019. (Photo by JOSEPH EID/AFP via Getty Images)

Banks burn in Lebanon as exchange rate falls to historic low

Adam Lucente

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

Since 2019, the value of the Lebanese pound has plummeted from 1,507 to the dollar to 100,000 on the parallel market, plunging much of the population into poverty

Lebanese pound hits historic low of 100,000 to dollar

Agence France-Presse