Caretaker Minister of Economy and Trade, Amin Salam, on Thursday said that a decision had been made to allow supermarkets to price goods in US dollars, provided that they adopt the black market exchange rate. 

“The goal is not dollarization, but rather consumer protection. We have given a deadline until next Wednesday to implement the new mechanism to control prices,” Salam said in a press conference.

"Consumers can pay in Lebanese pounds according to the price adopted by the supermarket," he noted.

“Lebanese cigarettes and bread will not be priced in US dollars,” Salam concluded.