{"id":1900877,"date":"2023-03-19T07:41:43","date_gmt":"2023-03-19T11:41:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/as-economy-worsens-lebanese-juggle-dizzying-rates-for-devalued-pound\/"},"modified":"2023-03-19T07:44:25","modified_gmt":"2023-03-19T11:44:25","slug":"as-economy-worsens-lebanese-juggle-dizzying-rates-for-devalued-pound","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/as-economy-worsens-lebanese-juggle-dizzying-rates-for-devalued-pound\/","title":{"rendered":"As economy worsens, Lebanese juggle dizzying rates for devalued pound"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fas-economy-worsens-lebanese-juggle-dizzying-rates-for-devalued-pound%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1900877&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p> <br \/>\n<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p>By Emilie Madi and Mohamed Azakir<\/p>\n<p>BEIRUT (Reuters) \u2013 Caroline Sadaka has to keep her phone in hand while buying groceries in Beirut. Sadaka calculates the prices of goods using different exchange rates, which vary by store and sector. <\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1663871513696-art-1\" style=\"min-width: 320px; min-height: 50px;  text-align: center;\">  \t<script>  \t\tgoogletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1663871513696-art-1'); });  \t<\/script>  <\/div>\n<\/p>\n<p>The local pound has experienced an array of exchange rates as the Lebanese economy continues to collapse. This is complicating personal accounting and lowering hopes of reforming the economy as set out by the International Monetary Fund.<\/p>\n<p>The government initially set the official exchange rate at 15,000 pounds to the U.S. dollar in February, which is nearly 90% less than the pegged rate of 1507.5. <\/p>\n<p>However, the Central Bank is selling dollars at a rate of 79,000 to the greenback. Meanwhile, the finance minister intends to calculate tariffs for imported goods at 45,000 pounds. The parallel market rate is hovering around 107,000 pounds with daily changes. <\/p>\n<p>Although supermarkets and fuel stations are required to post signs with the value they\u2019ve adopted for the day, the rate is changing so quickly that many are pricing in the stable U.S dollar instead. <\/p>\n<p>For example, examining a can of tuna, Sadaka illustrated the daily challenge faced by shoppers. She questioned whether the price of this can is logical, as it is in Lebanese pounds. Is this the price, an old price, or a new price in dollars? <\/p>\n<p>Sadaka resigned from her job as a local currency schoolteacher when its value decreased by more than 98% against the dollar on the parallel market since 2019. The economy unraveled after decades of corruption and unsound financial policies. <\/p>\n<p>For Lebanon to receive a $3 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund, the government needs to implement one unified rate. This is among the pre-conditions set last year. However, politicians, protecting vested interests and avoiding accountability, have resisted the required reforms. <\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, the country is turning into a\u00a0cash-based and dollarized economy\u00a0due to rising inflation and banks\u2019 restrictions on transactions. <\/p>\n<p>Shop owner Mahmoud Chaar stated that the fluctuating exchange rate increases the uncertainty of his business, losing money overnight. Like many business owners, Chaar pays in U.S. dollars for the imported goods but sells in Lebanese pounds. He sold all his goods based on one rate on one day but woke up the next day to find the rate jumped almost 10,000 pounds per U.S. dollar. \u201cBasically, we lost in the exchange rate difference what we had made in profit,\u201d Chaar told Reuters. <\/p>\n<p>Economist Samir Nasr said the diverse rates across sectors were making personal accounting messy for Lebanese citizens. He added that unifying the rates was more urgent than ever. \u201cWhat is required is a full group of reforms and steps that will allow for the economic situation to stabilize in general \u2013 and would then allow the exchange rate to be unified,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p> (Reporting by: Emilie Madi and Mohamed Azakir; Writing by: Maya Gebeily; Editing by: Cynthia Osterman)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p>This week has been filled with major headlines in the U.S. and around the world. One America\u2019s Rachel Acenas brings us the top stories in our week in review.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p>New financial documents revealed Thursday show deeper ties between the Biden family and Chinese Communist Party. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p>The author of \u2018Rich dad poor dad, who infamously predicted the 2008 crisis, warns of \u2018serious trouble\u2019 for the U.S. bond market. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p>The Biden administration releases footage of the moments leading up to Russia\u2019s downing of a U.S. drone.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p>By Anna Tong SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) \u2013 After temporarily closing his leathermaking business during the pandemic, Travis Butterworth found himself lonely and\u2026 <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p>SHANGHAI (Reuters) -Baidu and Pony.ai said on Friday they have won permits to provide fully driverless ride-hailing services in the Chinese capital\u2026 <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p>By Stephen Nellis and Krystal Hu (Reuters) -Huawei Technologies Co Ltd has replaced more than 13,000 parts in its products that were\u2026 <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p>By Victor Pinheiro SAO PAULO (Reuters) \u2013 The Brazilian government is studying whether to regulate Internet platforms with content that earns revenue\u2026 <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>&#8220;From <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oann.com\/business\/as-economy-worsens-lebanese\/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=as-economy-worsens-lebanese\">As economy worsens, Lebanese juggle dizzying rates for devalued pound<\/a>&#8221;<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><span style=\"font-size:11px\"><em>&#8220;The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author of the article and not necessarily shared or endorsed by Conservative News Daily&#8221;<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Emilie Madi and Mohamed Azakir BEIRUT (Reuters) \u2013 When Caroline Sadaka buys groceries in the Lebanese capital Beirut, she keeps her phone in hand \u2013 not to check her shopping list but to calculate the spiralling costs of goods now priced at volatile exchange rates that vary by store and sector. As Lebanon\u2019s economy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":1900878,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[22133,22132,9168,22130,22131,11431,6009,16256],"class_list":["post-1900877","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-devalued","tag-dizzying","tag-economy","tag-juggle","tag-lebanese","tag-pound","tag-rates","tag-worsens"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1900877","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/66"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1900877"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1900877\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1900878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1900877"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1900877"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1900877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}