Middle East Currencies Exchange for USD

With the collapse of the Soviet Union starting with the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989, the reunification of Germany in 1990, and the collapse of their paper ruble in January 1991, other than Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Israel, all Middle East and African currencies followed suit.

 

Egyptian Pound EGP to USD

1950 $2.77 (Close of WW2 and almost at par with Palestinian Pound)
1979 $1.66 (Start of Egyptian "Open Door Policy")
1989 $1.20
1990 $0.60
1991 $0.30 (Start of Gulf War 1990-91)
2002 $0.20
2014 $0.14 (Disruption of "Arab Spring")
2015 $0.10
2016 $0.06
2022 $0.06
2023 $0.03

The Egyptian pound is also used in the Gaza Strip and in the Sudan.

Click here for three other African currencies, the South African Rand, the Ethiopian Birr, and the Nigerian Naira.

 

USD to Syria Pound SYP

1950  3
1963  4
1988 12
2001 48
2012 62
2013 94
2014 151
2016 208
2021 1250
2022 2512

In May 2022 the black market unofficial rate was 3,950 to the US dollar.
In June 2023 it was 9,000 to the US dollar. 

USD to Lebanon Pound LBP

1950     3
1981     5
1985    15
1986    36
1987   208
1988   450
1991  1024
1992  1500
2022  1500
2023 15000

In March 2020 at the start of COVID, Lebanon's Central Bank defaulted on $90 billion of sovereign debt obligations, triggering an informal collapse in the value of the Lebanese pound. Despite official assurances that the exchange rate is stable and there is no capital control, citizens' savings in dollars, available in limited amounts during 2019, have been inaccessible since October 17, 2019.

Capital controls are expected to remain in place until at least 2025. It has been remarked that Lebanon, whose population is under 7 million, "produces little and imports about 80 percent of the goods it consumes."

The informal exchange rate became 5000 to the US dollar in June 2020, falling to 15000 to the US dollar in 2021-2022.

In May 2022 savings accounts are inaccessible and the black market unofficial rate was 27,000 to the US dollar.
In June 2023 it was 93,000 to the US dollar.

Jordan Dinar JOD to USD

In 1950 Replaced Palestinian Pound at par

1950 $2.80 (Close of WW2)
1988 $2.40
1989 $1.60 (Start of Gulf War 1990-91)
2001 $1.41 (Fixed Rate of Exchange)

Saudi Arabian Riyal SAR to USD

1950 $0.22 (Close of WW2)
1985 $0.27 (Fixed Rate of Exchange)

USD to Yemen Rial YER


On 30 October 1918, following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, Imam Yahya Muhammad of the al-Qasimi dynasty declared northern Yemen an independent sovereign state. Its currency became the North Yemen Rial.

In the Aden Protectorate in the south, a British protectorate from 1839, the Indian rupee and the Maria Theresa Thaler (trade dollar) were the primary currencies. The East African shilling replaced the rupee after 1951. 

In 1965, the South Arabian Dinar was introduced, at 1 Dinar =  1 UK pound = $US 2.80. It was renamed the South Yemeni Dinar in 1967 when the Aden Protectorate became independent as South Yemen. Forged close links with the USSR until the breakup of the Soviet Union in the late 1980s.

In May 1990 North Yemen reunited with South Yemen exchanging 1 South Yemeni Dinar for 26 North Yemen Rials. The South Yemeni Dinar remained legal tender until 1996.

In 2014-2015, a civil war broke out. The Iran-backed Houthi armed forces currently occupy Yemen's capital city Sanaa, and refuse to recognise the Saudi-backed government, based in Aden.

USD to Yemen Rial

1990 12
1995 40
1996 95
1997 140
1999 170
2006 190
2009 200
2011 214
2016 250

USD to Iraqi Dinar IQD

In 1932 the Dinar replaced the Indian Rupee at 11 Rupees to the Dinar, at par with the UK Pound. However, after Saddam Hussein took control in 1980, the value of the Dinar was kept artificially high while its exchange rate on the black market dropped to about 60 cents US.

In 2004, the US invasion of Iraq caused the value of the Dinar to totally collapse. Today there is minimal demand for Iraqi exports, other than oil, which trades in USD.

1950 $2.80 (Close of WW2, at par with the UK pound)
2003 $3.20
2004 1400 to USD
2022 1450
2023 1310

USD to Iran Rial IRR

Government maintains Tight Control over all foreign exchange but US sanctions continues to devalue their currency from an export perspective

1950    32
1957    75
1992    68
1993  1200
1998  1800
2008  8000
2011 10000
2016 30000
2018 42000

In April 2018 the black market unofficial rate was 56,500 to the US dollar

In June 2023 the rial was 575,000 to the US dollar

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