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AVOlio wrote
Tech Guru wroteI advice you to check out your balances at April 3rd , the salaries payroll ones. BDL Circular 148 is applicable on LBP salaries , without account closure, for one time only. Assume you have in your balance on the 3rd of April a remaining debt salary balance of 800,000 LBP , the bank will pay you:

(800,000 / 1500) × 3200 = 1,700,000 LBP.

It's a BDL incentive and covered , not a commercial banks generosity. The 148 Circular was signed on 3rd of April 2020.

Remaining Balance at this date must be free of any debt and has a value date for example at 4th of April. Just check your balances through your bank mobile application by displaying a statement of account.
Do you have a link or image of that circular we can see?
I want to check if on the circular it's 3,000 or 3,200

The rate is not fixed

وفقاً لسعر السوق بتاريخ طلب السحب من قبل العميل
That's what it says.
My bank told me it's 3,000

But didn't bdl make another circular stating that the exchange rate should be 3,000?
Don't Sell Any USD:

After the marked decrease in the dollar exchange rate, so that it reached 3700 LBP / 1$ . The Lebanese are asking whether they should sell the remaining dollars with them, for fear of further declines and in the hope of profit. The low exchange rate scenario is not the first of its kind during this crisis. It happened previously when the exchange rate was 2000 LBP , and then it suddenly fell to the 1700 LBP , when people sold what they had in fear of returning to the 1500 LBP. However, the dollar then settled for a long time at the price of 1850 LBP . "The exchange rate game and this rapid decline are always used by money changers to encourage people to sell their dollars. Ironically, exchangers donot sell USD in case some asked them since their primary manoeuvre is to store USD.
Tech Guru wroteDon't Sell Any USD:

After the marked decrease in the dollar exchange rate, so that it reached 3700 LBP / 1$ . The Lebanese are asking whether they should sell the remaining dollars with them, for fear of further declines and in the hope of profit. The low exchange rate scenario is not the first of its kind during this crisis. It happened previously when the exchange rate was 2000 LBP , and then it suddenly fell to the 1700 LBP , when people sold what they had in fear of returning to the 1500 LBP. However, the dollar then settled for a long time at the price of 1850 LBP . "The exchange rate game and this rapid decline are always used by money changers to encourage people to sell their dollars. Ironically, exchangers donot sell USD in case some asked them since their primary manoeuvre is to store USD.
Very true!
Today I received a circulating excel sheet it shows that in just 2 weeks there has been an increase in circulating LBP value from 15.x billion to 16.8 billion. That's ridiculously high for 2 weeks.
I second this. Some people keep falling for this trap. Smh
NuclearVision wroteToday I received a circulating excel sheet it shows that in just 2 weeks there has been an increase in circulating LBP value from 15.x billion to 16.8 billion. That's ridiculously high for 2 weeks.
Keep in mind that increase in circulating currency might not necessarily be due to the central bank putting more money in circulation.

It may be related to withdrawal of assets from banks due to crisis needs and/or confidence crisis.

On tradingeconomics.com you can see the monetary volumes M0 to M3 for Lebanon (up to last month or so) and you can see that M3 drops as M0 increases, I guess it means that long term depostits, investments and other accounts are being liquidated.
rolf wrote
NuclearVision wroteToday I received a circulating excel sheet it shows that in just 2 weeks there has been an increase in circulating LBP value from 15.x billion to 16.8 billion. That's ridiculously high for 2 weeks.
Keep in mind that increase in circulating currency might not necessarily be due to the central bank putting more money in circulation.

It may be related to withdrawal of assets from banks due to crisis needs and/or confidence crisis.

On tradingeconomics.com you can see the monetary volumes M0 to M3 for Lebanon (up to last month or so) and you can see that M3 drops as M0 increases, I guess it means that long term depostits, investments and other accounts are being liquidated.
It makes sense,(although the country has been closed these 2 weeks) but whatever the reason is, this is not healthy and could be catastrophic.
Exchanges just being their usual asshole selves.
everybody is thinking about their own benefits and how can they profit from the crisis and no one is thinking about the aftermath. And you wonder why Lebanon is still corrupted.
arached wroteeverybody is thinking about their own benefits and how can they profit from the crisis and no one is thinking about the aftermath. And you wonder why Lebanon is still corrupted.
The problem is that all Lebanese people do not trust the governining parties. they know they are responsible for themselves and if they fall no body will care for them.

and there is not such thing as "watan", we are ourtet nes mjama3een". it's normal that people act this way.


it's always been this way, always will. Until we truly agree as a community that we want a homeland. starting by a sectarian system
Trust or think about who exactly?
The exchange rate is being controlled by the government and central bank and not exchange houses (who are officially closed).
In order for exchange rate to go down, the government and BDL need to formulate a law that allows money transfer to outside of Lebanon at a certain or open rate. The failure in doing so has been causing this variation in USD/LBP rate.
Until that is resolved, merchants need USD to buy items from outside and they will pay you whatever rate to get it. If you do not convert your LBP to USD, these merchants cannot buy USD and cannot get any item from outside Lebanon.

The solution is not in the people's hands.
jsaade wroteTrust or think about who exactly?
The exchange rate is being controlled by the government and central bank and not exchange houses (who are officially closed).
In order for exchange rate to go down, the government and BDL need to formulate a law that allows money transfer to outside of Lebanon at a certain or open rate. The failure in doing so has been causing this variation in USD/LBP rate.
Until that is resolved, merchants need USD to buy items from outside and they will pay you whatever rate to get it. If you do not convert your LBP to USD, these merchants cannot buy USD and cannot get any item from outside Lebanon.

The solution is not in the people's hands.
If you know how the "peg" was actual maintained, then you will realize that it is not considered a problem if the currency is floating. Many here and online in general have discussed the types of floating the currency.

BDL has been hemorrhaging its treasury to maintain the peg, thus a fake purchasing power we had. Our BOP is huge along with a big trade deficit. This has been going on for decades.
6 days later
Lighteningbulb wroteHey all, any idea when exchange shops will open?
Hopefully never.
Sadly, they are open in many areas such as Msaytbeh.
A small can of Pepsi is now 2000LL in minimarkets because those people.
Sorry, but I think there are many wrong conceptions in this thread.

- The price of dollars depend on offer and demand. So far the Central bank had manipulated the offer and demand but they do not have the resources anymore to do it (apparently). Their system failed, don't blame exchange shops for trying to fulfill people's need for US dollars, it will only make things worse by making the needed currency even less available and will drive price of imports even higher. It is impossible to realistically force the whole 5+ million Lebanese to exchange US dollars at an official rate. Beside, we do not print Dollars, the only way to get more is to buy them from other countries, and we can't force them to sell them at the price that we want.

- There are people who try to do positive things for the country and there are others who go around complaining that nothing works in this country and take it as an excuse for doing nothing. I would please ask to respect the people who are doing something by not making generalisations (especially insulting).
VincentKeyboard wrote
Lighteningbulb wroteHey all, any idea when exchange shops will open?
Hopefully never.
Sadly, they are open in many areas such as Msaytbeh.
A small can of Pepsi is now 2000LL in minimarkets because those people.
This is a bit misleading and mis-informed, the exchange rate is not caused because of exchange houses/shops. They have been closed for a while but the USD to LBP rate is still more than double. This is a political and economical problem. Also caused by the need for USD which is not tackled by any reform plan.
Please stop throwing around blame. Exchange houses did not cause the Lira collapse, our politicians and their lack of planning or work of any kind caused this.
Fair enough. But raising the official rate was a horrible idea too.
The current prices are tailored to people getting paid according to the new rate and this neglects people whose salaries are already in LL.
VincentKeyboard wroteFair enough. But raising the official rate was a horrible idea too.
The current prices are tailored to people getting paid according to the new rate and this neglects people whose salaries are already in LL.
The fact that they're selling the dollar for more than 4000L.L isn't as worrying as the fact that people are willing to buy it for that price...
It is based on the need of the people which is not resolved yet. A lot of people simply need USD for their work or to pay bills abroad.
If banks wont sell them they will pay 4000 and more to get what they need.