• Lobby

  • Lebanese lira to USD exchange

What... Did you try?
Johnaudi wrotewithdrawing from there, exchanging from local dealer, depositing, then cycling again.
Can you re-explain this to me? (Please forgive my slow evening brain)
rolf wroteWhat... Did you try?
A relative just came back from Cyprus, he was able to withdraw from the ATM for two days from his Lebanese Card according to his card limit. (Which was around 900 euros daily)
Guitaret wrote
Johnaudi wrotewithdrawing from there, exchanging from local dealer, depositing, then cycling again.
Can you re-explain this to me? (Please forgive my slow evening brain)
Please note that it's just a planification.
Steps would be as follows: Go to cyprus, withdraw from ATMs there, come back, go to the 'serraf' and get LBP at a higher rate (which is illegal by his part), deposit them back at the bank. Repeat.
Johnaudi wroteSteps would be as follows: Go to cyprus, withdraw from ATMs there, come back, go to the 'serraf' and get LBP at a higher rate (which is illegal by his part), deposit them back at the bank. Repeat..
I don't think its feasible. let's say:
Around 6% fees
Exchange rate 1507
The limit is 1000$/day

If you withdrew 1000$, it will cost you 1,597,420 LBP (1000+6%*1507)
Add to that the expenses (airplane ticket, taxi...). Let's say its 100$ only
so your total cost is 1,597,420+150,700= 1,748,120 LBP

sarraf will give you 1,800,000 LBP for the 1000$ so you will win ~50,000 LBP. Not worth the energy and time spent.
sero wrote
Johnaudi wroteSteps would be as follows: Go to cyprus, withdraw from ATMs there, come back, go to the 'serraf' and get LBP at a higher rate (which is illegal by his part), deposit them back at the bank. Repeat..
I don't think its feasible. let's say:
Around 6% fees
Exchange rate 1507
The limit is 1000$/day

If you withdrew 1000$, it will cost you 1,597,420 LBP (1000+6%*1507)
Add to that the expenses (airplane ticket, taxi...). Let's say its 100$ only
so your total cost is 1,597,420+150,700= 1,748,120 LBP

sarraf will give you 1,800,000 LBP for the 1000$ so you will win ~50,000 LBP. Not worth the energy and time spent.
The cheapest round trip ticket is 20$, of which you stay 3 days in Cyprus. For the cheapest trip you gain 100$, extending your round trip leads to higher amounts. Limiting it to 7 days gets you 7000$ in your pockets (hence no problem with customs).
deduct ticket (30$) + 6 nights (6 * 25$) = 180$. (6820$ * 0.94) * 1800L.L = 6410.8$ * 1800L.L = 11,539,000L.L
7000$ * 1500L.L = 10,500,000L.L
Profit of 1,000,000L.L per week.

And the longer you stay, the more you are able to make, yet this is assuming the Lira stays the same or higher as the black market price.

This is also assuming that your cards have a summed limit of 1000$, and that you have enough in each of your card accounts.
Johnaudi wrote The cheapest round trip ticket is 20$
Sorry I think this ticket is gone, for the near future anyway - however there are still cheap tickets.

Whether it is profitable is up for debate.

However, there is an ideological aspect of it - some sort of payback for confiscating our dollars and our savings.

Also you get to take a break, a small vacation.
@Johnaudi
you're missing lots of expenses if you're staying several days in Cyprus (insurance, Taxi, mobility, food....)
Overall i think its not worth it (yet). But definitely it will be profitable if exchange rate reached 2000+. In that case count me in in your next trip to Cyprus :)
Excuse me but what Trip are we talking about that costs 20$ round trip?
A round trip flight Lebanon to Cyprus costs 20$? Since when??
AVOlio wroteExcuse me but what Trip are we talking about that costs 20$ round trip?
A round trip flight Lebanon to Cyprus costs 20$? Since when??
ryanair offers round trip flight from lebanon to cyprus for 20 euros
AVOlio wroteExcuse me but what Trip are we talking about that costs 20$ round trip?
A round trip flight Lebanon to Cyprus costs 20$? Since when??
Since November (or October? I am not sure), low-cost airlines (Ryanair) started operating to Cyprus.

Yes Ryanair now flies from Beirut now.

Super cheap tickets seem to be gone for November, but there are some in December. Cheapest flights I could find were to Paphos, not Larnaca.
Let's put the flight details aside (in fact, I will create a thread where we can discuss traveling shortly).
I'd highly appreciate it if anyone from abroad trying to withdraw from his LBP account using his credit card would let us know further details, as in how much was he able to withdraw and at what rate, I've had several mixed reviews about this.

For instance, at the airport, they took a 60 euro flat fee for each transaction of 300 euros (of which he can do three daily), whereas in the city, they took a 3-6 euro flat fee.
Supporting these black market exchanges is what's ruining the LBP. You think you're getting richer but you're just ruining the economy more and what used to cost 1,000 is gonna cost 2,000. So you gained nothing other than making those mafia exchanges richer.

Fight the urge and don't support this.
I've been able to withdraw and transfer USD without any issues (last week), banks won't let you withdraw if they slightly think you'll go to the exchange.

IMO, if they force all the exchanges to close, the LBP will stabilise within a day.
beezerIMO wrote if they force all the exchanges to close, the LBP will stabilise within a day.
So you think our economic crisis is due to the exchange shops?
if they force exchanges to close, suddenly we'll have billions of dollars available and LBP to USD rate will get back to 1500 (and within a single day, lol)?
Please read more on economics and understand how demand and supply works instead of just repeating what politicians are saying.
In fact I think the banks are selling the USD in the black market and I have credible information / sources regarding that.
I'm not listening to any politicians, I'm seeing with my own eyes how exchanges make up their own rates based on two or three sources, who do they call to check on the rate? Not treasuries, banks or government institutions.

The economy is shit overall, yes, but the LBP is getting shittier because supposedly less dollars and more LBP. There's your supply and demand analogy. But there's only the so called less dollars because people are exchanging them. What ruined the banks in the states? People rushed to take their money out, Banks don't have cash at hand. (they're invested, loaned, but always secured) Sounds like you might know that, and this black market exchange could turn Lebanon into Venezuela.
beezer wroteSupporting these black market exchanges is what's ruining the LBP. You think you're getting richer but you're just ruining the economy more and what used to cost 1,000 is gonna cost 2,000. So you gained nothing other than making those mafia exchanges richer.

Fight the urge and don't support this.
I would have to disagree with you there.
By selling your USD, what you're doing is increasing the USD liquidity in the market, hence a bigger supply of the foreign currency.
Demands are quite high, which is why prices are still skyrocketing. Increasing supply regulates demand, reducing price increases.
You'd be endorsing these black market exchanges by buying USD with your LBP.
Ethical or not is another topic, but at times like these, everyone's trying to hunt.
who do they call to check on the rate? Not treasuries, banks or government institutions.
When those institutions get delusional and insist on a rate of 1500 but can't back it up with adequate liquity, the market starts setting its own rates, which leads to price discovery.
this black market exchange could turn Lebanon into Venezuela
Exchanges are merely the vultures scavenging the spoils of the lion. Yes they are opportunistic, but they serve an important role in the ecosystem. Whether you think what they are doing is ethical is one thing, but you can not seriously posit that they are the ones who hunted down the economy.