Since its financial collapse in 2019, Lebanon’s currency has been on a sharp descent. The Lebanese pound, which has since lost over 97% of its value, on Tuesday hit a record low of 54,000 LL per US dollar compared to 1,500 LL before the crisis.
A cafegoer was able to document the speed of the Lebanese pound’s fall, as demonstrated by the 8.74% price increase between the two coffees he ordered in a span of two and a half hours. The 10:30 am coffee cost 103,000 LL while the 1:00 pm coffee set him back 112,000 LL.
On top of its dire financial situation, Lebanon hasn’t had a president since the end of October last year when Michel Aoun’s six-year term ended. The parliament has convened 11 times since but has yet to elect the country’s next leader.
With the presidential vacuum and the parliament yet to decide over the formation of a new cabinet, the nation’s most vital public institutions — schools, services, and municipalities — have been left in a paralysis, barely able to function.
Inflation surged to 171.2% in 2022, the highest in almost 40 years. The World Bank calls this crisis one of the worst in modern history, a “deliberate depression” from the government’s misuse and mismanagement of funds that has brought a tidal wave of unemployment and pushed more than half of its population below the poverty line.
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