A spokesman for the Lebanese Central Bank told Reuters that on Monday the bank completely stopped providing dollars for gasoline imports, causing gasoline prices to skyrocket.
Last year, the central bank said it would stop offering dollars at a subsidized exchange rate due to declining foreign reserves, but continued to do so at a below-market rate through an “exchange” platform. The bank has been gradually reducing the amount of dollars it has provided through the “swap” over the past weeks.
A central bank spokesman said importers are now having to buy dollars on the black market as the currency traded at around 35,000 pounds per dollar on Monday, while the exchange rate settled at around 28,000 last week. on oil imports said that “the greater the volatility in the exchange rate, the greater the volatility in fuel prices,” he told Reuters.
The price of 20 liters of petrol jumped by 20,000 lira on Monday, a notable increase from the usual daily fluctuations of several thousand liras in previous weeks. So far, Shammas said, importers have been able to get all the dollars they need on the black market, and gas stations will continue to accept payment in Lebanese pounds at the daily black market rate.
