Lebanese Lira’s value drops 32,2% from end of 2022

According to Forbes, the Syrian pound lost a third of its value since the end of December 2022, while the Egyptian pound declined by 17.2 percent since the end of 2022, bringing the exchange rate of one US dollar to EGP 29.9 as of January 26, 2023.   

Based on an article published by the American business magazine, which analyzed the three Arab currencies from December 2022, the Lebanese Lira dropped 32,2 percent since the end of 2022, making the exchange rate 62,500 pounds per one US dollar on January 26, 2023.   

Adding that “the annual inflation rate in Lebanon hiked to 171.21 percent in 2022, from 154.8 percent in 2021, 84.9 percent in 2020, and 2.9 percent in 2019, according to the Central Administration of Statistics.”   

Forbes reported that the World Bank affirmed that the decline in income average, the inflation rate increase, and the decrease in the value of the LBP led to a severe reduction in purchasing power.   

“Lebanon witnessed a severe collapse in essential services due to the depletion of foreign exchange reserves since the beginning of the crisis. Lebanon’s foreign currency reserves declined in the first 11 months of last year by 23.8%, reaching $10.4 billion in November 2022 compared with $13.65 billion in December 2021,” the magazine highlighted.   

This decline was caused after Lebanon faced a severe economic crisis for over three years, promoted further by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Beirut port explosion on August 4, 2020.