(AFP) - The value of the Lebanese currency deteriorated on Tuesday to an unprecedented level, reaching 100,000 against one dollar in the parallel market, according to exchange offices in the country mired in a stifling economic and financial crisis.
This record level was recorded at a time when banks resumed an open-ended strike.
The official exchange rate was set at the level of 15,000 pounds against the dollar last February, compared to 1,507 pounds previously.
This official exchange rate remains six times lower than the actual price of the pound in the parallel market, where the Lebanese currency is traded on Tuesday at 100,000 pounds against the dollar, according to exchange offices.
This coincides with an acute liquidity crisis, and banks stopped providing depositors with their money in dollars.
On Tuesday, the banks resumed an indefinite strike, which they had launched in February, to protest against what the Association of Banks considered "arbitrary" legal measures towards creditors.
Since the summer of 2019, Lebanon has been witnessing an economic crisis that the World Bank ranked among the worst since 1850, and it is considered the worst in Lebanon's history.
In early March, supermarkets began pricing goods in dollars, as a decision by the authorities, in light of the rapid decline in the value of the local currency. It was preceded by months ago, restaurants and stores in a country that imports 90% of its goods.
Food commodity prices have increased dramatically since 2019. According to the World Bank, the inflation rate reached 332% from January 2021 to July 2022, which is the highest in the world.
Political paralysis exacerbates the situation, in light of a presidential vacuum for months, during which the country has been run by a caretaker government that is unable to take necessary decisions, including reforms that the international community requires to provide support in order to stop the bleeding.
Since the end of President Michel Aoun's term at the end of October, the Lebanese parliament has failed 11 times to elect a president due to deep political divisions, as no party has a parliamentary majority that empowers it to deliver a candidate.