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.
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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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