By Libya Herald staff.
Tunis, 10 August 2015:
Libyans who been selected in the draw to go on the Haj pilgrimage to Mecca . . .[restrict]have been told that they can exchange foreign currency if they present their passports and Haj selection letters to their bank.
There had been fears that the 5,000 Libyans who successfully applied to perform Haj this year were going to be hit by lack of foreign currency at the banks and that they would have to resort to the black market to buy dollars and Saudi riyals.
That would have doubled the costs. The purchase rate for a US dollar (to which the Saudi riyal is pegged) at the banks is LD 1.39 but on the black market LD 2.60
However, the General Authority for Hajj and Umrah in the Jebel Akhdar area has announced that, for at least for eastern Libya, pilgrims will be able to buy dollars at the bank rate.
But it is believed that pilgrims in the west and south of the country will also be able to benefit from the move.
The maximum they will be allowed is $3,500 per person.
Haj is due to fall between 21 and 26 September, but pilgrims are already heading to Saudi Arabia for the pilgrimage season. [/restrict]
