Government backtracks
on LL15,000 exchange rate

Raising the conversion by ten-fold is now

linked to the approval of a recovery plan

Raising the official exchange rate to LL15,000 from LL1,507 will be tied to the approval of the financial recovery plan, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) said in a follow-up to an earlier statement in which it said that the decision will come into effect on November 1.

MoF said in its latest statement that raising the exchange rate will be carried out in two stages. In the first phase it will be applied for calculating customs duties. Afterwards, the new official exchange rate will be adopted in the country in coordination with the Central Bank (BDL) and its implementation will be conditional on the approval of the recovery plan. It said that the move is a fundamental step for the unification of the exchange rates.

Riad Salameh, Governor of BDL, told Reuters that the decision will require time before it is implemented. “We have to wait before anticipating further moves,” he said.

MoF’s decision was met by an uproar from various quarters, especially from political parties which the current minister represents.