Lebanese pound
| ISO 4217 | |
|---|---|
| Code | LBP (numeric: 422) |
| Subunit | 0.01 |
| Symbol | None official. The abbreviation LL or ل.ل. is used |
| Denominations | |
| Subunit | |
| 1⁄100 | piastre |
| Banknotes | |
| Freq. used | LL 5,000, LL 10,000, LL 20,000, LL 50,000, LL 100,000 |
| Rarely used | LL 1,000 |
| Demographics | |
| User(s) | Lebanon |
| Issuance | |
| Central bank | Banque du Liban |
| Website | www |
| Valuation | |
| Inflation | 16.09% (Jan 2025)[1] |
| Source | blog.blominvestbank.com |
| Pegged with | U.S. dollar[2] note |
note Dual exchange rate system (Sayrafa) | |
The lira or pound[a] is the currency of Lebanon. It was formerly divided into 100 piastres (Arabic: قرش qirsh) but, because of high inflation during the Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990), subunits were discontinued.
The plural of lira is either lirat (ليرات līrāt) or invariant, whilst there are four forms for qirsh: the dual qirshān (قرشان) used with number 2, the plural qurush (قروش) used with numbers 3–10, the accusative singular qirshan (قرشًا) used with 11–99, and the genitive singular qirsh (قرش) used with multiples of 100. The number determines which plural form is used. All of Lebanon's coins and banknotes are bilingual in Arabic and French.
From December 1997 through January 2023, the exchange rate was fixed at LL 1,507.50 per US dollar.[5] However, since the 2020 economic crisis in Lebanon, exchange at this rate was generally unavailable, and an informal currency market developed with much higher exchange rates.[6] On 1 February 2023, the Central Bank reset the currency peg at LL 15,000 per US dollar.[7] By mid-March 2023, the "parallel market" rate had fallen to LL 100,000 per dollar.[8] On 19 December 2023, the Sayrafa rate (the rate the central bank redeems international credit and debit card payments) was established from LL 85,500 to LL 89,500 per US dollar.[9][10] Most recently in 2025, the parallel market rate has stopped fluctuating to reach a rate of LL 89,500 per US dollar.
- ^ Lebanon’s Inflation Eases to 16.09% Annually in January 2025
- ^ "About Banque du Liban | History of Banque du Liban". www.bdl.gov.lb. Archived from the original on 8 October 2022. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
- ^ "World Bank Editorial Style Guide 2020 - page 136" (PDF). openknowledge.worldbank.org. Retrieved 2022-08-01.
- ^ "Lebanon". CIA World Factbook 1990 - page 178. 1 April 1990. Retrieved 2022-06-21.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
bankkofleb2was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Lebanese banks raise USD withdrawal rate to 3,850 pounds/dollar". Reuters. 29 June 2020. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
- ^ "Lebanon devalues official exchange rate by 90%". Reuters. February 1, 2023. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
- ^ "Lebanon's currency value plunges to 100,000 against US dollar". Al Jazeera. 14 March 2023. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
- ^ "Sayrafa. Platform Rate for 19/12/2023". Retrieved 2025-09-12.
- ^ "BDL exchange rate becomes LL89,500 to the dollar: What does this mean?". L'Orient Today. December 22, 2023. Retrieved 2025-09-12.
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