Lebanon: Aid to be disbursed in dollars as Lebanese pound crashes

The EU, UN and World Bank have confirmed a deal to disburse aid in dollars, Reuters news agency reported.

Impoverished groups in Lebanon could soon receive more aid after a letter from international donors showed on Wednesday that there had been an agreement to hand out assistance in hard currency as the Lebanese pound crashed to a new low. Aid to the country in the midst of a financial meltdown exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic had previously been handed out in Lebanese pounds at rates set by the Banque du Liban, the central bank. But in a letter to the country’s finance ministry seen by the Thomson Reuters Foundation, representatives of the European Union, United Nations and World Bank said they “take note of the verbal agreement” on February 22 by the central bank chief and deputy prime minister for aid to be disbursed in United States dollars.