Lebanon's currency continues to tank amid monetary chaos
ABC News
Lebanon’s national currency has further collapsed, trading on the black market at nearly 20 times its value two years ago, worsening inflation and people’s despair
BEIRUT -- Lebanon’s national currency further collapsed Monday, trading on the black market at nearly 20 times its value two years ago, worsening inflation and people’s despair.
The Lebanese pound was trading at 27,000 to the dollar on the black market, hitting a new low in its downward trajectory since October 2019 as the Lebanese economy went into a tailspin. The currency is officially pegged at 1,500 pounds to the dollar.
The economic collapse has been described as one of the worst in the world in over 150 years. Inflation and prices of basic goods have skyrocketed in Lebanon, which imports more than 80% of its basic goods.
Shortages of basic supplies, including fuel and medicine, and restrictions on bank withdrawals and transfers, particularly in foreign currency, have increased the desperation of the Lebanese in the once middle-class country.
