A currency exchange shop is seen along Hamara Street in Beirut, Lebanon, Jan. 14, 2023. (Xinhua/Liu Zongya)
BEIRUT, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Lebanese pound continued its tumble on the parallel market on Friday, hitting a record low of over 49,000 Lebanese pounds against one U.S. dollar, the local newspaper Lorient Today reported on its website.
The new record was reached when the dollar was trading at 49,400 Lebanese pounds to buy and at 49,200 Lebanese pounds to sell in the afternoon, said the report.
The last record low of 48,000 pounds against one U.S. dollar occurred on Dec. 26 last year, down from 40,000 pounds on Oct. 14 last year.
The Lebanese pound has been officially pegged at 1,507 to the dollar since 1997, a rate that has not reflected its true market value for years as the currency has been in free fall, with multiple parallel exchange rates coexisting.
The national currency has lost more than 96 percent of its value over three years. ■
A man walks out of a currency exchange shop along Hamara Street in Beirut, Lebanon, Jan. 14, 2023. (Xinhua/Liu Zongya)
A man counts money at the entrance of a currency exchange shop along Hamara Street in Beirut, Lebanon, Jan. 14, 2023. (Xinhua/Liu Zongya)
