Will BDL's move prevent further currency depreciation?

Amid the devaluation of the Lebanese lira, the Sayrafa platform is a 'must-have.'

Banque du Liban (BDL) was able to partly control the exchange rate, which was about to hit LBP 50,000 to the US dollar.

The central bank had recently allowed a large number of citizens to profit from and purchase amounts of cash in dollars without a cap and according to Sayrafa exchange rate.

Where are these US dollars sourced from?

Many condemned BDL’s move, given that the dollars sold at Sayrafa rate are taken from the reserves, i.e., the remaining money of depositors.

But according to BDL data, these reserves increased from roughly $9.5 billion in September 2022 to more than $10 billion by the end of 2022.

Besides this, amid the ongoing depreciation of the lira, BDL has been purchasing dollars from the market to add to its reserves and then sell them on Sayrafa platform. This was done particularly recently since it opened the option to buy dollars cap-free, and the exchange rate significantly increased from about LBP 30,000 to LBP 38,000. 

Thus, the central bank withdrew a large amount of the Lebanese pound to slow the rise of the USD.

On the other hand, experts warned that this step is not durable:

First, BDL’s collection of dollars [to sell them] is made at the expense of the currency’s deterioration.

Second, the primary beneficiaries of Sayrafa operations are the traders and speculators that use it as if it was their own business to generate profits and the banks that charge fees to customers in exchange for doing banking procedures.

In conclusion, only some practical strategies exist to stop the collapse from deepening. The sole way to begin emerging from the crises is through the presidential election and the government formation to steer the country in the right direction.