lollar

English

Etymology

Blend of Lebanon +‎ dollar; coined by economist Dan Azzi in 2019.

Noun

lollar (plural lollars)

1. a currency deposit recorded as a US dollar in the Lebanese banking system that cannot be withdrawn as such due to the Lebanese liquidity crisis, instead being available only for exchange for Lebanese pounds at massively reduced rates.
   • 2020 July 8, Sarah El Deeb, “Hottest commodity in Lebanon’s economic chaos: The US dollar”, in The Washington Post‎^[1]:

     Many scramble for ways to use their trapped “Lollars,” fearing they could eventually lose them completely.

   • 2021 April 9, Thomas Schellen, “Lost in the fog”, in Executive‎^[2]:

     Bekdache next names as problems the lollar/dollar and Lebanese pound currency conundrum and the issue of having to settle claims in the same currency and same category (cash or check) in which a policy premium had been paid;

   • 2022 May 6, “Lebanon’s currency of corruption”, in The Economist‎^[3], archived from the original on 12 August 2022:

     Millions of American dollars deposited by citizens are frozen in banks, accessible only in local currency at ruinous exchange rates. These lost dollars are known colloquially as “lollars,” or LOL. The LTA is now printing physical lollars, adorned with art by Tom Young, a Beirut-based painter whose work focuses on Lebanon’s crises and corruption.