History[edit]

Until World War I, the Turkish pound 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 franc at a value of LS 1 = 20 F. Lebanon issued its own coins from 1924 and banknotes from 1925.

Bank of Syria & Lebanon

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 LL 8.83 = £1 stg.^[6] 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:

• LL 3.07 in 1965
• LL 3.26 in 1970

• LL 2.25 in 1975
• about LL 4 in 1981

In 1986 the pound began to fall against the dollar. On 13 June a dollar was worth LL 36.50. two weeks later it was worth LL 47.^[7]

• LL 500 in 1987^[8]
• LL 900 in December 1989^[9]

During the Civil War, the value decreased rapidly until 1992, when one US dollar was worth over LL 2,500. Subsequently, the value increased again, and since December 1997 the official rate has been fixed at LL 1,507.50 = US$1.^[4]

In August 2019, pressure on the fixed exchange rate with the US 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.

Bank of Syria & Lebanon

^{[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 LL 10,000 = US$1.^[10] By July 2021, it was around LL 24,000 to the dollar.^[11] On 26 May 2022, the value of the Lebanese pound dropped in the black market to LL 35,600 against the US dollar, its lowest value ever, despite the recently held general elections.^[12]

On 10 May 2021 the Lebanese Central Bank (BDL) announced the launch of the “Sayrafa” platform, an electronic platform intended to record all Lebanese Pounds foreign exchange transactions and identify the exchange rates at any point in time.

Bank of Syria & Lebanon

^[13] The platform was launched in June 2021, and as of August 2022, the sayrafa exchange rate is around 20% less than the unofficial black market rate.^[14] From 1 February 2022 the Sayrafa rate became the official US dollar to lira exchange rate for all credit card transactions.^[15]

Coins[edit]

Lebanon’s first coins were issued in 1924 in denominations of 2 and 5 piastres (p). Later issues did not include the word “syriennes” and were in denominations of 1⁄2p, 1p, 2p, 2+1⁄2p, 5p, 10p, 25p and 50p. During World War II, rather crudely made 1⁄2p, 1p and 2+1⁄2p coins were issued. Before the war all coins were minted in Paris.^[16]

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 1p, 2+1⁄2p, 5p, 10p, 25p, 50p and LL 1. No coins were issued between 1986 and 1994, when the current series of coins was introduced.

Coins in current use are:^[17]

Coins of the Lebanese pound
Image		Value	Technical parameters				Colour	Date of issue
Obverse	Reverse		Diameter	Thickness	Mass	Metal
Coins no longer in circulation[18]
		5p				Aluminium-bronze		1924
		5p				Aluminium-bronze		1925 1931 1933 1936 1940
		50p			10 g	Silver		1929 1933 1938
		5p	18 mm		2.2 g	Copper-nickel-aluminium	Golden yellow	1968 1969 1972 1975
		10p	21 mm		3.2 g	Copper-nickel-aluminium	Golden yellow	1968 1969 1970 1972 1975
		25p	23.5 mm		4 g	Nickel-brass	Golden yellow	1968 1969 1970 1972 1975 1980
		50p	24 mm		6 g	Nickel	White nickel	1968 1969 1970 1971 1975 1978 1980
		LL 1	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[17]
		LL 25	20.5 mm	1.3 mm	2.8 g	Nickel-plated steel	White nickel	2002
		LL 50	19 mm	1.15 mm	2.25 g	Stainless steel	White nickel	1996
		LL 50	21.5 mm	1.67 mm	3g	Nickel-plated steel		2006
		LL 100	22.5 mm	1.80 mm	4 g	Zinc and copper	Red copper	1995 1996 2000
		LL 100	22.5 mm	1.83 mm	4 g	Steel and nickel	White	2003
		LL 100	22.5 mm	1.80 mm 1.60 mm	4 g	Steel and copper	Red copper	2006 2009
		LL 250	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
		LL 500	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[edit]

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

LL 100 note of the 1964 series

Lebanon’s first banknotes were issued by the Banque de Syrie et du Grand-Liban (Bank of Syria and Greater Lebanon) in 1925. Denominations ran from 25 piastres through to LL 100.

In 1939, the bank’s name was changed to the Bank of Syria and Lebanon. The first LL 250 notes appeared that year. Between 1942 and 1950, the government issued “small change” notes in denominations of 5p, 10p, 25p and 50p. 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 LL 1, LL 5, LL 10, LL 25, LL 50 and LL 100 were issued.

The Banque du Liban (Bank of Lebanon) was established by the Code of Money and Credit on 1 April 1964.^[19] 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 LL 1, LL 5, LL 10, LL 25, LL 50, LL 100, and LL 250, 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:

Circulating banknotes[20]
Image		Value	Dimensions	Main colour	Date of issue
Obverse	Reverse
		LL 1,000	156 × 67 mm	Teal	1988 1990 1991 1992
			115 × 60 mm		2004 2008
					2011 2012
		LL 5,000	156 × 67 mm	Pink	1994 1995
			140 × 70 mm		1999 2001
			120 × 62 mm		2004 2008
					2012
		LL 10,000	145 × 73 mm	Yellow	1998
			127 × 66 mm		2004 2008
					2012
		LL 20,000	150 × 80 mm	Red	1994 1995 2001
			130 × 72 mm		2004
					2012
		LL 50,000	150 × 80 mm	Blue	1994 1995 1999 2001
			140 × 77 mm		2004
					2011 2012
		LL 100,000	161 × 90 mm	Green	1994 1995 1999 2001
			147 × 82 mm		2004
					2011 2012
For table standards, see the banknote specification table.

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[edit]

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, five distinct Lebanese pound rates were defined against the US dollar, officially and unofficially. They were valued at:

• Official government rate = LL 1,507.5. This official rate has been pegged for over 25 years, but since Lebanon’s financial crisis of 2019 it is effectively obsolete. The government plans to change it to 15,000 in February 2023.^[21]

• Lebanon’s Central Bank’s “Sayrafa” rate = LL 30,300 (November 2022)^[22]

• “Lollar” (bank withdrawals of US$ in LL) = LL 8,000^{[citation needed]}

• Parallel market rate = LL 41,000 (November 2022)^[23]

The parallel (or black) market rate is significantly higher than the official exchange rate.

Lollar[edit]

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^[24] and considerably lower than the highly speculative black market rate which is multiple times higher.

Bank of Syria & Lebanon

There are also limits put on the total amount that can be withdrawn on the lollars.^[25] The term was coined by Harvard University economic fellow Dan Azzi^[26] after the Lebanese banks suffered serious difficulties and restricted the amount of US dollars and other foreign currencies they could pay to their depositors.

The official exchange rate set by the Central Bank of Lebanon: Lebanese pound to U.S. dollar is approximately 1,507.5ل.ل per 1 US dollar. This rate is more two times different from the real exchange rate on the black market. The real exchange rate of the Lebanese pound to U.S. dollar is approximately ل.ل39,750 per 1 US dollar on black market.^[27]