The pound or lira is the currency of Lebanon. It was formerly divided into 100 piastres (or qirsh in Arabic) but, because of high inflation during the Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990), subunits were discontinued.
The plural of lira is either lirat ( ) or invariant, whilst there are four forms for qirsh: the dual qirshān () used with number 2, the plural qurush () used with numbers 3–10, the accusative singular qirshan (قرشًا) used with 11–99, and the genitive singular qirsh (قرش) used with multiples of 100. The number determines which plural form is used. All of Lebanon's coins and banknotes are bilingual in Arabic and French.
From December 1997 through January 2023, the exchange rate was fixed at LL 1,507.50 per US dollar. However, since the 2020 economic crisis in Lebanon, exchange at this rate was generally unavailable, and an informal currency market developed with much higher exchange rates. On 1 February 2023, the Central Bank reset the currency peg at LL15,000 per US dollar. By mid-March 2023, the "parallel market" rate had fallen to LL100,000 per dollar.
History
Until World War I, the Turkish pound was the currency used in the area. In 1918, after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, the Egyptian pound was used. Upon gaining control of Syria and Lebanon, the French replaced the Egyptian pound with a new currency for Syria and Lebanon, the Syrian pound, which was linked to the franc at a value of LS 1 = 20 F. Lebanon issued its own coins from 1924 and banknotes from 1950. In 1939, the Lebanese currency was officially separated from that of Syria, though it was still linked to the French franc and remained interchangeable with Syrian money. In 1941, following France's defeat by Nazi Germany, the currency was linked instead to sterling at a rate of LL 8.83 = GBP1.00 A link to the French franc was restored after the war, but was abandoned in 1949.
Before the third phase of the Lebanese Civil War, USD1 was worth: LL 3.07 in 1965 LL 3.26 in 1970 LL 2.25 in 1975 about LL 4 in 1981 In 1986, the pound began falling against the dollar. On 13 June, a dollar was worth LL 36.50. Two weeks later, it was worth LL 47. LL 500 in 1987 LL 900 in December 1989 During the Civil War, the currency depreciated rapidly until 1992, when one US dollar was worth over LL 2,500. Subsequently, the government attempted to peg the currency: from December 1997 until February 2023, the official rate was fixed at LL 1,507.50 = USD1.00
In August 2019, due to the increasing supply of Lebanese pounds in the economy, pressure on the fixed exchange rate with the US dollar started, creating a parallel market rate. In March 2021, the black market rate in Beirut was LL 10,000 = USD1.00 By July 2021, it was around LL 24,000 to the dollar. On 18 March 2023, the value of the Lebanese pound dropped in the black market to LL 111,000 against the US dollar, its lowest value ever.
On 10 May 2021, the Lebanese Central Bank (BDL) announced the launch of the "Sayrafa" platform, an electronic platform intended to record all Lebanese Pounds foreign exchange transactions and identify the exchange rates at any point in time. The platform was launched in June 2021 and became the official USD-to-lira exchange rate for all credit card transactions on 1 February 2022. In March 2023, the Sayrafa exchange rate became 43% less than the unofficial, black market rate.
Coins
Lebanon's first coins were issued in 1924 in denominations of 2 and 5 piastres (p). Later issues did not include the word "syriennes" and were in denominations of p, 1p, 2p, p, 5p, 10p, 25p and 50p. During World War II, rather crudely made p, 1p and p coins were issued. Before the war all coins were minted in Paris.
After the war, the Arabic spelling was changed from girsh (غرش) to qirsh (قرش). Coins were issued in the period 1952 to 1986 in denominations of 1p, p, 5p, 10p, 25p, 50p and LL 1. No coins were issued between 1986 and 1994, when the current series of coins was introduced.
Coins in current use are:
By January 2023, the only coins in use are the 250- and 500-pound ones. The other lower-value coins are worthless now due to hyperinflation.