The reserves have emerged this year as a focus of what the political opposition calls government mismanagement. They plunged in 2019-2020 as state banks sold off $128 billion to stabilise the lira, which still fell 20% in 2020.
The price of 20 litres of 95-octane petrol shot up nearly 16,000 Lebanese pounds ($10.6 at the official rate) to reach 61,000 pounds ($40.6), according to NNA.
The exchange rate used by Reuters on Thursday was 7.4446 compared to 7.4524 the previous week.
The reserves plunged last year as state banks sold off an estimated $130 billion to stabilise the lira, which still lost 20% of its value in 2020. Net forex reserves were around $41 billion at the end of 2019.
