Banking in Lebanon after the crisis

Short answer: keep your Australian account as home base, carry US dollars, and treat a Lebanese bank account as a tool, not a vault.

The short version

Since 2019, Lebanon has had two kinds of dollars: "lollars", the old deposits stuck in the banks, and "fresh dollars", new money that can actually be withdrawn and moved.
Cash in US dollars still runs daily life in Beirut. Smartraveller advises bringing enough hard currency and warns of daily withdrawal limits and high ATM fees [1].
People with pre-crisis foreign-currency deposits can draw up to USD 1,000 a month under the central bank's Circular 158 (from December 2025), capped at USD 50,000 in total [2].
A "financial gap" law setting out how depositors get paid back passed Cabinet in 2026 but, as of late September 2026, had not passed parliament [3][4].
Smartraveller's overall advice for Lebanon is Do not travel [1]. Plan your money as if you might have to leave quickly.

What actually happened to Lebanon's banks

Before 2019, Lebanese banks paid high interest on US dollar deposits and the pound was pegged at about LBP 1,507.5 to the dollar. Plenty of Lebanese-Australian families parked savings there, or kept money in Beirut for property and retirement.

In late 2019 the system ran out of road. Banks shut their doors for weeks, then imposed informal capital controls. There was never a formal capital controls law, so each bank set its own limits. Dollars in accounts could no longer be withdrawn as dollars or sent abroad. The pound lost almost all its value on the street market.

That's where the slang comes from. A "lollar" is a Lebanese dollar: a dollar balance on a bank statement that you can't get out at face value. A "fresh dollar" is a dollar deposited after the crisis, in cash or by incoming transfer, which banks agreed to treat separately and let you withdraw or transfer.

By 2024 the central bank, Banque du Liban (BDL), had unified its official rate at around LBP 89,500 to the dollar, the rate the Ministry of Finance itself uses in its tax announcements [5]. Prices in Beirut shops are now usually quoted in dollars, or in pounds pegged to that rate.

Fresh dollars vs lollars, side by side

	Fresh dollars	Lollars (old deposits)
What it is	Money deposited after the crisis, in cash or by incoming transfer	Foreign-currency balances from before 31 October 2019
Withdraw in cash	Generally yes, within each bank's rules	Only through BDL schemes such as Circular 158
Send abroad	Generally yes, with fees and paperwork	Only within the Circular 158 allowance
Typical use	Salaries, rent, bills, card spending	Slow monthly drawdown, waiting on the gap law
Risk	Bank strikes and new rules can still interrupt access [1]	Final recovery depends on legislation not yet passed [4]

Note: banks apply these rules differently and change them often. Ask your branch for the current terms in writing before you move serious money in.

Day-to-day money for Australians in Beirut

Cash is still king

Most rents, generator subscriptions, water deliveries, taxis and small shops want cash US dollars. Smaller change often comes back in pounds. Bring clean, undamaged US notes from Australia. Newer series notes are easier to spend, and torn or marked notes can be refused.

Smartraveller says ATMs and exchange offices are widely available in Beirut and larger cities, but that daily withdrawal limits and high fees may apply [1]. It also notes that industrial strikes sometimes hit the banking sector [1]. Keep a buffer at home in case the ATMs go quiet for a week.

Australian cards

Visa and Mastercard debit and credit cards from Australian banks generally work at ATMs and in bigger shops, restaurants and hotels in Beirut. Expect your own bank's foreign transaction fee on top of the local ATM fee. Before you go:

Tell your bank you'll be in Lebanon, or your first withdrawal may be blocked as suspicious.
Check the fee schedule for overseas ATM use and foreign currency conversion, and pick the card with the lowest combined cost.
Carry two cards from two different banks, so one block doesn't strand you.
Set up SMS or app alerts and make sure you can receive Australian two-factor codes overseas. Our guide to keeping Australian accounts covers this.
Know your card's sanctions or high-risk country rules. Some banks and fintechs restrict transactions linked to Lebanon. Check before you rely on one.

Moving money in

The cleanest route for most Australians is to keep income and savings in Australia and bring money in as needed. Common options:

Withdraw cash in Beirut with an Australian card. Simple, but fees add up on large amounts.
Bring cash in your luggage. Australia requires you to declare AUD 10,000 or more (or the foreign equivalent) when you leave, and you should check Lebanon's current declaration rules on arrival.
Send an international transfer to a fresh-dollar account in Lebanon. This works, but expect intermediary bank charges and compliance questions about the source of funds.
Use a money transfer service. International operators pay out in Lebanon through local networks, and many Lebanese families use these for monthly support. Compare the total cost on the day, not just the advertised fee.

Our Sending money home guide explains how to compare exchange rates and fees.

Do you need a Lebanese account at all?

If you're working for a Lebanese employer, probably yes, because salaries are often paid into a bank account, sometimes partly in cash. If you live on Australian income or savings, many people get by with cards and cash. Opening an account usually needs your passport, residence permit, proof of address and proof of income, and banks run thorough checks on new foreign customers.

If you have old deposits from before 2019

This is the big one for many Lebanese-Australian families.

What you can get now: Circular 158

BDL's Circular 158 lets eligible depositors draw down old foreign-currency balances in monthly instalments. From 1 December 2025 the payment rose to USD 1,000 a month: USD 800 as cash, an international transfer, cards or a deposit into a fresh account, plus USD 200 on a card usable only at point-of-sale terminals [2].

The rules, as published by Bank of Beirut [2]:

The account must be a foreign-currency account opened before 31 October 2019.
Individuals qualify, including joint accounts, minors, legal heirs and legatees.
The total you can receive through the scheme is capped at USD 50,000.
Companies, the public sector, NGOs and financial firms are excluded.

There's a parallel scheme, Circular 166, for depositors who didn't qualify under 158. Ask your bank which applies to your account.

What might come later: the financial gap law

The financial gap law decides who absorbs the losses from the collapse and how much depositors get back. As of the draft reported in May 2026 [3]:

Deposits up to USD 100,000 would be repaid in full over about four years.
Larger depositors would receive the first USD 100,000 in cash, with the rest converted into BDL-backed bonds maturing in 10, 15 or 20 years.
Economists analysing an earlier draft estimated the largest depositors would recover only around a quarter to a third of their money in today's value [7].

Cabinet approved the draft, but as of 30 September 2026 parliament had not passed it and no vote was scheduled. The IMF treats it as a condition for any lending program [4]. Until it's law, these terms are proposed, not rights you can claim.

What to do now

Get your paperwork in order. Request full statements showing the balance on 31 October 2019 and every movement since.
Sort inheritance early. If the account belonged to a parent who has died, legal heirs can qualify for Circular 158, but the bank will want Lebanese inheritance documents [2].
Keep your contact details current with the bank so you don't miss notices or deadlines.
Be wary of anyone selling a shortcut, such as buying your lollars for a fraction of face value. Some people do sell, but understand you may be giving up a future recovery.
Get independent legal advice in Lebanon before suing a bank or signing any settlement.

The Australian Embassy in Beirut can't recover private bank deposits for you. It's a commercial dispute under Lebanese law.

The Australian side

Australian tax. If you're still an Australian tax resident, interest earned in Lebanon goes in your tax return. Our tax residency guide explains when that stops.
No tax treaty. Australia has no tax treaty with Lebanon [6], which matters if you earn there. See our guide to tax in Lebanon.
Keep Australia as the main account. Australian deposits up to AUD 250,000 per person per bank are protected by the Financial Claims Scheme. There's nothing like that protecting your Beirut balance today.

Members of Cooee Lebanon, our Facebook group for Australians in Lebanon, swap notes on which banks and transfer routes are working this month. That changes faster than any guide can.

Banking in Lebanon after the crisis: fresh dollars, lollars and cash