Lebanon’s seemingly endless economic turmoil has sent the Lebanese lira (pound) to a new record low on Monday, plunging Lebanese citizens into more distress.

Dealers reported that the Lebanese lira was trading 117,000 LBP to the US Dollar at noon on Monday.

The low on Monday comes less than a week after Lebanon’s national currency hit a record low of 100,000 LBP to the dollar.

The 100,000 pounds, the country’s largest banknote, now worth less than a $1. Before the country’s economic crisis, 100,000 pounds was worth $67.

However, it will now take 11.7 million pounds — or 117 of the country’s largest banknotes — to buy $100, throwing into question the need for smaller denominations such as the 1,000 and 5,000 notes.

Coins have largely become obsolete due to the currency crisis, with coins of 500 and 250 pounds turning into jewellery and other souvenirs.

Price Hikes

Meanwhile, fuel prices have further increased across the country on Monday with the price of a canister of gasoline surpassing 2,000,000 LBP, that od diesel nearing 2,000,000 LBP and that of LP gas exceeding 1,360,000 LBP.

For his part, caretaker Minister of Economy Amin Salam said that 50% of the prices in the market is not controlled.

In an interview with local TV channel on Monday, Salam said the market is uncontrolled due to absence of the monetary authority which led to a state of confusion and collapse of the national currency.

In this context, Salam stressed that his ministry has been responsibly assuming monitoring duties.

During a monitoring tour on Monday, Salam told Al-Manar that the decision to dollarize the market curtailed some processes of price manipulation.

Mikati Welcomes IMF Delegation

On the other hand, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati received a delegation representing the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The delegation’s visit at the Grand Serail comes under Article IV of the IMF’s Articles of Agreement, in which the IMF holds bilateral discussions with member countries, including Lebanon, and assesses their economic and financial conditions before issuing the annual advisory report, National News Agency (NNA) reported.

Source: Al-Manar English Website