September 17, 2006
THE ILOCOS TIMES - NEWS

Lebanon OFWs may now convert Lebanese currency to pesos

Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) who have returned from Lebanon may exchange their Lebanese currency for Philippine pesos seven days from the date of their arrival.

This is in line with the opening of a Currency Exchange Facility (CEF) approved by the Monetary Board of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) as a service to OFWs who had been displaced by the Israel-Hizbollah conflict. Prior to this, Lebanese banknotes are not convertible to pesos.

Under the CEF guidelines issued as Memorandum Circular No. M-2006-016 which took effect on September 1, each OFW returning from Lebanon will be allowed to exchange with BSP, or with authorized agent banks (AABs), up to a maximum of 300,000 Lebanese Livres for Philippine pesos. OFWs shall present documentary proof of their travel from Lebanon such as passport or valid travel papers (issued and signed by the Philippine Embassy, stamped with the date of the OFW’s arrival in the Philippines).

The BSP shall set the exchange rate at which it will buy Lebanese Livres from OFWs and AABs that purchased said currencies under the CEF. The rate shall be posted daily in the BSP Reference Exchange Rate Bulletin. AABs, particularly those with branch offices at the airports, may extend banking hours, as needed to service currency conversion requirements of returning OFWs.

The CEF was established during similar emergency situations in the Middle East. The first such facility was in the 1990s during the Kuwait-Iraq war and the second in 2003 in connection with the US-Iraq conflict. Access to the CEF was exclusive to returning OFWs who were given a limited period within which to exchange the acceptable currencies for pesos and for a limited amount.

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