Banque du Liban - REUTERS
The director of Market Studies Institute, Patrick Mardini, clarified that the fate of the Sayrafa platform is linked to the newly appointed governor of the central bank after Riad Salameh. He indicated that the period during which the deputy governor assumes office will be temporary and for the purpose of conducting business, thus ruling out any substantial changes in monetary policy. This means that Sayrafah will remain as it is, and the exchange rate within it will continue to be lower than the market rate.
Mardini further added via an interview with MTV website, that “Sayrafah” is not the only way through which the central bank can intervene in the market. The Banque du Liban has other methods of intervention, such as halting the injection of the Lebanese lira and printing it through financing the budget deficit.
Regarding the long term, Mardini pointed out that the Sayrafah platform will remain, but its nature of operation will change. He stated, “Currently, it is used to inject dollars into the market at a rate lower than the black market rate, and this raises suspicions about who benefits from these dollars, I believe that will change later on, and it will transform into the official platform where the unified official exchange rate is recorded. It will become the reference that reflects the true market instead of being controlled by a number of exchange dealers.”