For the first time in a very long time, money changers in Lebanon are witnessing a deficit in Lebanese Liras.
For the longest period, Lebanese money changers have been unable to provide an adequate amount of fresh Dollars in exchange for Lebanese Liras to those wanting to buy Dollars at the black market rate.
The reason behind the Lira deficit can be traced to the huge amount of people exchanging their Dollars for Lebanese Liras ahead of Monday’s parliamentary consultations scheduled to designate a new prime minister who will be responsible for forming a new cabinet.
Another reason is the Central Bank forcing fuel importing companies to pay in Lebanese Liras in order to open credits to buy oil.
This has caused a decrease in the Lebanese Lira/US Dollar exchange rate from almost 21,000 LBP for $1 to 19,600 LBP.
This sort of decisive event like the upcoming parliamentary consultations has usually been linked to a decrease in the Lebanese Lira/US Dollar exchange rate.
Like in previous times, people are now selling their Dollars to make the most out of their money before a drop in the exchange rate.
Several money changers have been refusing to buy dollars from people in order to avoid losses before the expected drop in the exchange rate on Monday.
