Cash flushed Lebanese market awaits government debt swap

They said the pound was trading at around 1,514 to the dollar, the weakest end of the 1,501-1,514 intervention band, where it has perched for weeks.

The central bank hardly intervened in the market, traders said.

“The market was calm,” said one trader at a Lebanese bank. “Since there is a lot of inflow from the Gulf, from expatriate Lebanese in investments, real estate and tourism, nothing will shake the market, it is steady.”

Gulf Arabs and Lebanon’s huge expatriate community have been increasingly investing in the country and tourism has brought an additional influx of cash as thousands of visitors from wealthy Gulf states head to its mountains and coast.