The Lebanese pound, the currency of Lebanon, is also known as the Lebanese lira. After being separated from the Lebanese-Syrian pound, the currency for Syria and Lebanon, the Lebanese pound became the official currency of Lebanon in 1939. All of the currency, including the coins and banknotes are bilingual in Arabic and French.
Lebanese Pound: Denominations
Lebanon started issuing its own coins in 1924. Coins of LL 25, LL 50, LL 100, LL 250, and LL 500 are currently in circulation.
The country issued its first notes in 1950. Notes of LL 1,000, LL 5,000, LL 10,000, LL 20,000, LL 50,000, and LL 100,000 are currently in circulation.
The History of the Lebanese Pound
After the fall of the Ottoman Empire, post-WWI France was mandated by the League of Nations to administer Syria and Lebanon. The French replaced the existing currency with a new currency for Syria and Lebanon, the Lebanese-Syrian pound. It was linked to the French franc at a value of LS 1 = 20 F.
The Lebanese currency was still linked to the franc and remained interchangeable with Syrian money, after being officially separated from that of Syria in 1939. The link was shifted to sterling following France's defeat by Nazi Germany in 1941. A re-link between the French and the Lebanese currencies was established post WWII, but was dumped in 1949, following Lebanon’s independence.
Depreciation of the Lebanese pound
The Lebanese pound maintained its exchange value against the dollar until the third phase of the Lebanese Civil War, with 1 USD accounting for about 4 Lebanese Lirats (LL) in 1981. The pound fell to LL 47 per dollar in 1986, which reached to LL 900 towards the end of 1989. The depreciation continued sharply when one US dollar was worth over LL 2,500 until 1992. The government fixed the official rate of exchange at LL 1,507.50 = USD1.00 in a bid to peg the currency from December 1997 until February 2023.
How Lebanese Pound became one of the Weakest Currencies?
As Lebanon was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, a deadly Beirut port explosion in 2020, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Lebanon defaulted on its sovereign debt for the first time, and its central bank simply started printing more currency, eroding its value and causing inflation to soar.
As of February 2023, its value fell from about 64,000 pounds to the dollar to 88,000 on the black market, while the official rate is 15,000. Having lost its 95% in value since late 2019, most restaurants and many stores in Lebanon are demanding to be paid in dollars to bypass what’s seen as a nearly useless currency.
Current Exchange Values
The Lebanese pound has lost a significant amount of its exchange value against the dollar, with 1 USD now worth approximately 89,402 Lebanese pounds. The exchange rate is 951 pounds per rupee.
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