Lebanese reserves of USD and other hard currencies are rapidly dwindling and going LBP -> USD at the official rate is now only permitted for "essential imports.

Lebanese reserves of USD and other hard currencies are rapidly dwindling and going LBP -> USD at the official rate is now only permitted for "essential imports." Essentially the central bank will allow you to convert your LBP for USD at the preferred rate only if you are using those dollars to import things like medicines. Of course since Lebanon is incredibly corrupt there are probably people who are "importers" who overstate their imports so they can get more dollars and arbitrage the difference between the rates. Ordinary people can only convert only small amounts of LBP at local banks at a worse-than-official rate so they go to the "black market" which is basically just a bunch of street vendors and guys organizing on WhatsApp (https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2020/5/29/like-a-drug-deal-inside-lebanons-black-market-currency-trade https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2020/5/29/like-a-drug-deal...).