By Libya Herald staff.
Tripoli/Tunis, 29 August 2015:
The Libyan dinar has gone into free fall on the black market, the only route . . .[restrict]now available to most Libyans needing foreign currency.
On the Tripoli market, where dealers are still selling foreign currency, one Libyan dinar is now trading at 34 US cents ($1=LD 2.95), down 8.4 percent from 37 cents on Thursday ($1= LD 2.70). It is down 9 percent against the euro. There are reports, moreover, of some dealers in Tripoli even operating a rate of three dinars to the dollar.
Further falls are expected tomorrow, the first day of the business week, when the Tripoli money dealers meet to revise their rates.
Meanwhile in Tunisia, the main destination for Libyans going abroad, the currency has dropped a massive 19 percent against the Tunisian Dinar – from TD 0.77 at the beginning of the week to TD 0.62 today. “No one is buying it now”, one black market dealer in Tunis told the Libya Herald.
The drop follows the clampdown on foreign currency being available to Libyan businesses and travellers abroad. It is not seen as connected to fears about Libya’s political woes.
The official dollar-dinar rate for those wanting to buy dollars is LD 1 = $0.73 ($1 = LD 1.3641). [/restrict]
