Lebanese pound

Lebanese pound
ليرة لبنانية (Arabic) Livre libanaise  (French)
LL1,000 note, written in Arabic on one side and French on the other side
ISO 4217
Code	LBP
Denominations
Subunit
1⁄100	piastre
Symbol	LL and ل.ل.
Banknotes	LL1,000, LL5,000, LL10,000, LL20,000, LL50,000, LL100,000
Coins	LL25, LL50, LL100, LL250, LL500
Demographics
User(s)	Lebanon
Issuance
Central bank	Banque du Liban
Website	www.bdl.gov.lb
Valuation
Inflation	84.9%
Source	The Global Economy, 2020
Pegged with	U.S. dollar $1 US = 1507 LBP[1] Black market exchange rate has diverged significantly; see article text

The Lebanese pound (Arabic: ليرة لبنانية līra Libnāniyya; French: livre libanaise; sign: LL in Latin, ل.ل. in Arabic, ISO 4217: LBP) is the currency of Lebanon. It was formerly divided into 100 piastres (or qirsh) but because of high inflation during the Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990) the use of subdivisions was discontinued.

The plural form of lira, as used in relation to the currency, is either lirat (ليرات līrāt) or invariant, whilst there were four forms for qirsh: the dual qirshān (قرشان) used with number 2, the plural qurush (قروش) used with numbers 3–10, the accusative singular qirshan (قرشا) used with 11–99, and the genitive singular qirshi (قرش) used with multiples of 100. The number determines which plural form is used. Before World War II, the Arabic spelling of the subdivision was غرش (girsh). All of Lebanon's coins and banknotes are bilingual in Arabic and French.

Since December 1997, the exchange rate has been fixed at LL1,507.5 per USD.^[2] However since the 2020 economic crisis in Lebanon exchange at this rate is generally unavailable, and an informal currency market has developed with much higher exchange rates.^[3]

History[]

Until World War I, the Ottoman lira was the currency used in the area. In 1918, after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, the Egyptian pound was used. Upon gaining control of Syria and Lebanon, the French replaced the Egyptian pound with a new currency for Syria and Lebanon, the Syrian pound, which was linked to the French franc at a value of 1 pound = 20 francs. Lebanon issued its own coins from 1924 and banknotes from 1925. In 1939, the Lebanese currency was officially separated from that of Syria, though it was still linked to the French franc and remained interchangeable with Syrian money. In 1941, following France's defeat by Nazi Germany, the currency was linked instead to Sterling at a rate of LL8.83 = £1Stg.^[4] A link to the French franc was restored after the war, but was abandoned in 1949.

Before the third phase of the Lebanese Civil War, US$1 was worth:

• LL3.07 in 1965
• LL3.26 in 1970
• LL2.25 in 1975
• about LL4 in 1981

During the Civil War, the value decreased rapidly until 1992, when one US dollar was worth over LL2,500. Subsequently the value increased again, and since December 1997 the official rate has been fixed at LL1507.5 = US$1.^[2]

In August 2019, pressure on the fixed exchange rate with the U.S. dollar started, creating a parallel market rate. The two-rate market is a textbook case of weakening central bank reserves that are not able to defend the official exchange rate.^{[citation needed]} Continuous financial pressures driven by unsustainable sovereign debt, high trade deficit and deposit outflows due to loss of confidence are threatening the peg for the first time since 1992.^{[citation needed]}

As of 3 March 2021, the black market rate in Beirut was LL10,000 = 1 U.S. dollar.^[5] By July 2021, it was around LL24,000 to the dollar.^[6]

Coins[]

Lebanon's first coins were issued in 1924 in denominations of 2 and 5 girush (note the different spelling from post WWII coins) with the French denominations given in "piastres syriennes", Syrian piastres). Later issues did not include the word "syriennes" and were in denominations of 1⁄2pt, 1pt, 2pt, 2+1⁄2pt, 5pt, 10pt, 25pt and 50pt. During World War II, rather crude 1⁄2pt, 1 and 2+1⁄2pt coins were issued.

After the war, the Arabic spelling was changed from girsh (غرش) to qirsh (قرش). Coins were issued in the period 1952 to 1986 in denominations of 1pt, 2+1⁄2, 5pt, 10pt, 25pt, 50pt and LL1. No coins were issued between 1986 and 1994, when the current series of coins was introduced.

Coins in current use are:^[7]

Coins of the Lebanese Pound
Image		Value	Technical parameters				Color	Date of issue
Obverse	Reverse		Diameter	Thickness	Mass	Metal
Coins no longer in circulation[8]
		5pt	18 mm		2.2 g	Copper-nickel-aluminium	Golden yellow	1968 1969 1972 1975
		10pt	21 mm		3.2 g	Copper-nickel-aluminium	Golden yellow	1968 1969 1970 1972 1975
		25pt	23.5 mm		4 g	Copper-nickel-aluminium	Golden yellow	1968 1969 1970 1972 1975 1980
		50pt	24 mm		6 g	Nickel	White nickel	1968 1969 1970 1971 1975 1978 1980
		LL1	27.5 mm		8 g	Nickel	White nickel	1975 1977 1980 1981
			27 mm		7.22 g	Nickel-plated steel	White nickel	1986
Coins in circulation[7]
		LL25	20.5 mm	1.3 mm	2.8 g	Nickel-plated steel	White nickel	2002
		LL50	19 mm	1.15 mm	2.25 g	Stainless steel	White nickel	1996
			21.5 mm	1.67 mm	3g	Nickel-plated steel		2006
		LL100	22.5 mm	1.80 mm	4 g	Zinc and copper	Red copper	1995 1996 2000
		LL100	22.5 mm	1.83 mm	4 g	Steel and nickel	White	2003
		LL100	22.5 mm	1.80 mm 1.60 mm	4 g	Steel and copper	Red copper	2006 2009
		LL250	23.5 mm	1.82 mm	5 g	Copper and aluminium	Yellow gold	1995 1996 2000 2003
				1.65 mm		Nordic Gold	Nordic Gold	2006 2009 2012
		LL500	24.5 mm	2.05 mm	6 g	Nickel-plated steel	White	1995 1996 2000 2003 2006 2009 2012
For table standards, see the coin specification table.

Banknotes[]

This section needs expansion with: Obverse and Reverse presentations on the listed notes. You can help by . (November 2019)

An obsolete 100 Lebanese Pound note

Lebanon's first banknotes were issued by the Banque du Syrie et Grand-Liban (Bank of Syria and Greater Lebanon) in 1925. Denominations ran from 25 girsha through to LL100. In 1939, the bank's name was changed to the Bank of Syria and Lebanon. The first LL250 notes appeared that year. Between 1942 and 1950, the government issued "small change" paper money in denominations of 5, 10, 25 and 50 girsh or qirsh (the change in spelling occurred during these years). After 1945, the Bank of Syria and Lebanon continued to issue paper money for Lebanon but the notes were denominated specifically in "Lebanese pounds" (ليرة لبنانية, livre libanaise) to distinguish them from Syrian notes. Notes for LL1, LL5, LL10, LL25, LL50 and LL100 were issued.

The Banque du Liban (Bank of Lebanon) was established by the Code of Money and Credit on 1 April 1964.^[9] On 1 August 1963 decree No. 13.513 of the "Law of References: Banque Du Liban 23 Money and Credit" granted the Bank of Lebanon the sole right to issue notes in denominations of LL1, LL5, LL10, LL25, LL50, LL100, and LL250, expressed in Arabic on the front, and French on the back. Higher denominations were issued in the 1980s and 1990s as inflation drastically reduced the currency's value.

Banknotes in current use are:

All current notes feature an Arabic side with the value in Arabic script numerals of large size. The other side is in French with the serial number in both Arabic and Latin script and in bar code below the latter one.

Devaluation[]

Hyperinflation in Lebanon

Since September 2019, the exchange rate has forked into multiple distinct rates due to Lebanon's banking sector collapse. Within six months, six distinct Lebanese pound rates were defined against the US dollar, officially and unofficially. They were valued at:

• Official government rate = LL1,507.5
• Official syndicate rate = LL3,850–LL3,900
• "Lollar" (bank withdrawals of USD in LBP) = LL3,900
• Parallel market rate = LL3,800
• Banker's cheque rate = 10.85c/$
• Black market rate = LL30,000 (by jan 2022) ^[11]

Lollar[]

The "Lollar" is a deposit denominated in US dollars in the Lebanese banking system. It is a nominal balance stuck or frozen in the Lebanese banks, with currency value simply as a computer entry. The Lollar is not a tangible currency, but is a concept of an outstanding deposit in US dollars in Lebanese banks that can only be withdrawn in Lebanese pounds at a very reduced set rate^[12] and considerably lower than the highly speculative black market rate which is multiple times higher. There are also limits put on the total amount that can be withdrawn on the lollars. The symbol of the lollar is lol.^[13][14] The term was coined by Harvard University economic fellow Dan Azzi^[15] after the Lebanese banks suffered serious difficulties and restricted the amount of US dollars and other foreign currencies they could pay to their depositors.

See also[]

• Economy of Lebanon

References[]

External links[]

• Banque du Liban
• Historical and current banknotes of Lebanon
• Lebanese lira rate today