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Lebanon's Central Bank to Stop Bank Withdrawals from Dollar Accounts at Low Fixed Rate

A picture shows the value in Lebanese pounds of a 100 U.S. dollar bill on the black market exchange rate (1,500,000 LL) in Beirut, March 16, 2021. (AFP)
A picture shows the value in Lebanese pounds of a 100 U.S. dollar bill on the black market exchange rate (1,500,000 LL) in Beirut, March 16, 2021. (AFP)
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Lebanon's Central Bank to Stop Bank Withdrawals from Dollar Accounts at Low Fixed Rate

A picture shows the value in Lebanese pounds of a 100 U.S. dollar bill on the black market exchange rate (1,500,000 LL) in Beirut, March 16, 2021. (AFP)
A picture shows the value in Lebanese pounds of a 100 U.S. dollar bill on the black market exchange rate (1,500,000 LL) in Beirut, March 16, 2021. (AFP)

Lebanon's Central Bank said on Wednesday it would stop letting depositors withdraw money from dollar accounts at a fixed rate of 3,900 pounds per dollar, a rate far worse than on the black market but the only way many Lebanese had been able to access their funds.

Lebanese banks have mostly locked depositors out of their dollar accounts and blocked transfers abroad.

Under a central bank circular last year, depositors were permitted to withdraw dollars, with the funds paid in the local currency at a rate of 3,900 pounds to the dollar.

That is only around a third of the value of dollars on the black market.

The Central Bank statement did not make it clear if an alternative system would be introduced to allow access to dollars in accounts.

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Israel Seals off the Occupied West Bank

Palestinians walk by the closed Deir Sharaf checkpoint near the West Bank city of Nablus, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians walk by the closed Deir Sharaf checkpoint near the West Bank city of Nablus, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP)
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Israel Seals off the Occupied West Bank

Palestinians walk by the closed Deir Sharaf checkpoint near the West Bank city of Nablus, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians walk by the closed Deir Sharaf checkpoint near the West Bank city of Nablus, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP)

Israel closed all checkpoints to the Israeli-occupied West Bank Friday as the country attacked Iran, a military official said Friday.

The move sealed off entry and exit to the territory, meaning that Palestinians could not leave without special coordination.

The official spoke on the condition of anonymity in line with military recommendations.

Around 3 million Palestinians live in the West Bank under Israeli military rule.

With the world’s attention focused on Gaza, Israeli military operations in the West Bank have grown in size, frequency and intensity.

The crackdown has also left tens of thousands unemployed, as they can no longer work the mostly menial jobs in Israel that paid higher wages.

Israel launched a wave of strikes across Iran on Friday that targeted its nuclear program and military sites, killing at least two top military officers and raising the prospect of an all-out war between the two bitter adversaries. It appeared to be the most significant attack Iran has faced since its 1980s war with Iraq.

The strikes came amid simmering tensions over Iran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program and appeared certain to trigger a reprisal. In its first response, Iran fired more than 100 drones at Israel. Israel said the drones were being intercepted outside its airspace, and it was not immediately clear whether any got through.

Israeli leaders cast the attack as necessary to head off an imminent threat that Iran would build nuclear bombs, though it remains unclear how close the country is to achieving that.