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Lebanese Money Changers Buy Dollars at Minimum 3,950 Pound Rate

A man counts US dollar banknotes next to Lebanese pounds at a currency exchange shop in Beirut, Lebanon April 24, 2020. (Reuters)
A man counts US dollar banknotes next to Lebanese pounds at a currency exchange shop in Beirut, Lebanon April 24, 2020. (Reuters)
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Lebanese Money Changers Buy Dollars at Minimum 3,950 Pound Rate

A man counts US dollar banknotes next to Lebanese pounds at a currency exchange shop in Beirut, Lebanon April 24, 2020. (Reuters)
A man counts US dollar banknotes next to Lebanese pounds at a currency exchange shop in Beirut, Lebanon April 24, 2020. (Reuters)

Lebanese money changers said on Wednesday they would buy US dollars for a minimum of 3,950 Lebanese pounds and sell them at a maximum price of 4,000 pounds, marking the end of a one-month strike.

The pound has fallen by around 60% from the official exchange rate of 1,507.5 pounds since October during an acute financial crisis as US dollars have become ever more scarce.

Four exchange dealers said they were buying dollars at the 3,950 rate and selling them at 4,100 on Wednesday.

In late April, the central bank said foreign currency dealers could not sell dollars for more than 3,200 pounds.

Ninety foreign currency dealers closed by the authorities for breaking the rules were due to reopen on Wednesday, the interior minister was cited by local media as saying.

Dollars are still being provided for the import of wheat, fuel and medicine at the official rate, a step which the government says aims to keep inflation in check. Last month the central bank said it aimed to provide food importers with dollars at a rate of 3,200 pounds to rein in food prices.

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US, Chinese Officials Start Geneva Talks on Easing Trade War

US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, listens to the speeches, during a bilateral meeting between Switzerland and the United States, in Geneva, Switzerland, on Friday, May 9, 2025. (Martial Trezzini/Keystone via AP)
US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, listens to the speeches, during a bilateral meeting between Switzerland and the United States, in Geneva, Switzerland, on Friday, May 9, 2025. (Martial Trezzini/Keystone via AP)
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US, Chinese Officials Start Geneva Talks on Easing Trade War

US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, listens to the speeches, during a bilateral meeting between Switzerland and the United States, in Geneva, Switzerland, on Friday, May 9, 2025. (Martial Trezzini/Keystone via AP)
US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, listens to the speeches, during a bilateral meeting between Switzerland and the United States, in Geneva, Switzerland, on Friday, May 9, 2025. (Martial Trezzini/Keystone via AP)

China's vice premier He Lipeng held talks with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent early on Saturday in Geneva in a tentative first step towards defusing a trade war that is disrupting the global economy, according to China's state-owned news agency and two people close to the talks.
Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer were due to meet He in Geneva after weeks of growing tensions that have seen duties on goods imports between the world's two largest economies soar well beyond 100%.
The trade dispute, combined with US President Donald Trump's decision last month to impose duties on dozens of other countries, has disrupted supply chains, unsettled financial markets and stoked fears of a sharp global downturn.
US President Donald Trump said on Friday an 80% tariff on Chinese goods "seems right," suggesting for the first time a specific alternative to the 145% levies imposed on Chinese imports.
The location of the talks has been kept secret, although a witness saw over a dozen police cars outside a private residence in a leafy Geneva suburb.
Mercedes vans with tinted windows were seen leaving a Geneva hotel where the Chinese delegation was staying on the banks of Lake Geneva.
Earlier, a delegation of over a dozen US officials, including Bessent and Greer, were seen smiling and wearing red ties and American flags on their lapels as they left their hotel. Bessent declined to speak to reporters.