Lebanon Central Bank Plans New Exchange Platform via Bloomberg

A view shows Lebanon's Central Bank building in Beirut, Lebanon January 12, 2023. (Reuters)
A view shows Lebanon's Central Bank building in Beirut, Lebanon January 12, 2023. (Reuters)
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Lebanon Central Bank Plans New Exchange Platform via Bloomberg

A view shows Lebanon's Central Bank building in Beirut, Lebanon January 12, 2023. (Reuters)
A view shows Lebanon's Central Bank building in Beirut, Lebanon January 12, 2023. (Reuters)

Lebanon's central bank is seeking to introduce a new currency exchange platform through Bloomberg, acting central bank governor Wassim Mansouri said on Monday in an interview with Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya television.
The central bank had already said it would phase out its own exchange platform, known as Sayrafa, and was considering Bloomberg as a substitute following concerns about Sayrafa's lack of transparency and governance, Reuters reported.
"On Wednesday, based on a request from the central bank, the cabinet's agenda will include the establishment of an international exchange platform," Mansouri said, adding that it would be through Bloomberg's trading platform.
Sayrafa was set up in May 2021, 18 months into Lebanon's economic meltdown. It was widely recognized as a way for the central bank, also known as BdL, to stabilize the Lebanese pound, which nevertheless continued to decline.
Lebanese authorities and international institutions have criticized Sayrafa for its lack of transparency, unsustainability and the opportunity it created for arbitrage, particularly as the gap grew between Sayrafa's and the parallel market.
The World Bank said buy-side Sayrafa participants may have made as much as $2.5 billion through arbitrage trades.



Blinken Speaks to Israel’s Dermer about Humanitarian Situation in Gaza

 A man sits on rubble of a house destroyed in an Israeli strike at the Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, on November 12, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (AFP)
A man sits on rubble of a house destroyed in an Israeli strike at the Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, on November 12, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (AFP)
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Blinken Speaks to Israel’s Dermer about Humanitarian Situation in Gaza

 A man sits on rubble of a house destroyed in an Israeli strike at the Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, on November 12, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (AFP)
A man sits on rubble of a house destroyed in an Israeli strike at the Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, on November 12, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (AFP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken emphasized the importance of improving the humanitarian situation in Gaza in a meeting with Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer in Washington on Monday, the State Department said.

Dermer updated Blinken on operational changes and policy decisions taken by Israel in response to a US letter sent in October, the department said in a statement on Tuesday.

Blinken "emphasized the importance of ensuring those changes lead to an actual improvement in the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, including through the delivery of additional assistance to civilians throughout Gaza," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in the statement.