Lebanon’s central bank to issue large-denomination banknotes

Beirut: Large-denomination banknotes of 500,000 and 1,000,000 Lebanese pounds (LBP) are likely to be issued in the country soon, local media reported,

A joint session of parliamentary committees on Tuesday approved a bill permitting Banque Du Liban (BDL), Lebanon’s central bank, to issue notes worth more than 100,000 LBP in denomination, Xinhua news agency reported citing local media.

If the bill is passed in parliament, the new notes will be printed.

After four years of economic crisis, the national currency has lost more than 98 per cent of its value and the exchange rate on the parallel market is currently around 94,000 LBP to the dollar, over 62 times the pre-crisis official rate of 1,507.5 LBP.

The proposed bill will merely solve the practical problem of carrying mass bundles of local banknotes, but have absolutely no impact on the value of the currency itself, the local media added.

According to the BDL’s website, the central bank has issued banknotes in 14 denominations since its establishment in 1963.

–IANS