The Lebanese pound continued to slump early on Friday, hovering between 9,925 and 9,975 against the U.S. dollar on the black market.

The pound currency jumped yesterday to 9,950/9,990 to the dollar, but was traded later at 9,930/9,970.

The volatile currency remains pegged at 1,507.5 by Lebanon’s central bank, but that rate 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 U.S. 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 lost more than 80% of its value which sent more than 50% of the population below the poverty line.

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.