Lebanon’s pound currency has tumbled to new lows on Tuesday with exchange rates of 9,850/9,900 pounds per dollar on the black market.

The pound remains pegged to the dollar at 1,507.5, but that rate fixed by the central bank of Lebanon remains available only for imports of wheat, medicine and fuel.

Lebanese banks had raised the exchange rate to 3,850 pounds per dollar for withdrawals from US dollar accounts as a liquidity crunch erodes the currency’s value.

An unprecedented financial crisis in Lebanon has resulted in severe devaluation of the country’s currency where the pound has lost more than 80% of its value in relation to the US dollar.

This new slump comes as the country is struggling from a scarcity of liquidity which has been further exacerbated by the COVID-19 global pandemic.