[ad_1]
Al Ain News
Saturday 9/26/2020 05:25 PM Abu Dhabi time
The Lebanese pound fell sharply today, Saturday, against the US dollar, after Prime Minister-designate Mustafa Adeeb apologized for continuing the task of forming a government.
In recent weeks, the black market exchange rate of the pound has stabilized at 7,500 pounds against the dollar.
After Adib’s apology, the dollar rose in an unprecedented way, registering 9,000 pounds on the black market, while information from market traders indicated that it touched the 10,000 Syrian pounds barrier in the Bekaa region.
According to the Lebanese media, the dollar has risen against the Lebanese currency at a rate of 100 pounds every hour since the prime minister-designate announced his apology.
Lebanon hoped to form a government soon, fearing the repercussions of failing in the French initiative to form a government of non-politicians to implement reforms.
In the midst of this state of chaos that reigns in the political street in Lebanon, some economists warned against the dollar crossing the threshold of 15 thousand pounds.
On October 17, 2019, thousands of Lebanese took to the streets to protest the performance of the political class, which they accuse of corruption and failure to manage successive crises.
The economic crisis in Lebanon has caused high inflation and has pushed almost half of the population below the poverty line.
The Lebanese pound has fallen about 85% in value since the beginning of May.
Tens of thousands of Lebanese have lost their jobs or part of their wages and their purchasing power has eroded, while dollar reserves are being depleted to import subsidized vital materials such as wheat, medicine and fuel.
Lebanon is under a public debt burden of $ 92 billion, or 170% of the value of gross domestic product, and last March it defaulted on $ 1.2 billion in debt.
