Protests in Beirut over Worsening Economic Crisis

  • W460
  • W460
  • W460

Hundreds of Lebanese protested Sunday in the country's capital and other areas over an economic crisis that worsened over the past two weeks, with worries over dollar-reliant Lebanon's local currency losing value for the first time in more than two decades.

Lebanon is facing a deep-running fiscal crisis as it staggers under one of the highest debt ratios in the world, at $86 billion or more than 150% of the country's gross domestic product.

Many of Sunday's protesters in downtown Beirut blamed Lebanese political leaders for the widespread mismanagement and corruption.

The protesters gathered shortly before noon in the central Martyrs Square, then marched toward the government headquarters were riot police were deployed.

"The people want to bring down the regime," some of the protesters chanted as riot police stopped them from marching toward the government headquarters. The slogan echoed that of the so-called Arab Spring uprisings of 2011.

Other protesters chanted "peaceful" and tried to stop the young men who clashed with security forces.

Later in the day, dozens of protesters closed major roads in the capital with burning tires and barriers causing traffic jams. Many of them began dispersing in the afternoon.

Despite tens of billions of dollars spent since the 15-year civil war ended in 1990, Lebanon still has crumbling infrastructure including daily hourslong electricity cuts, trash piles in the streets and often sporadic, limited water supplies from the state-owned water company.

Last week, the local currency reached 1,650 Lebanese pounds to the dollar at exchange shops after it had been stable at 1,500 since 1997. Although the official price is still pegged at 1,500 pounds to the dollar, people find it difficult to get hard currency at this rate from local banks.

The protest was called for by activists from the civil society as well as individuals.

Last week, amid fears that there will be an open-ended strike at gas stations, people waited in long lines to get vehicles filled.

Because of the shortage in hard currency, there have been complaints by importers of fuel, medicine and wheat, that they buy the products from abroad paying in U.S. dollars and when they sell in Lebanon they do so in the local currency.

Lebanon's central bank is scheduled to issue instructions to regulate ways to fund imports of fuel, medicine and wheat on Tuesday.

The state-run National News Agency reported that angry protesters briefly closed the road in the eastern town of Masnaa that leads to the Syrian capital of Damascus. The agency also reported road closures in the northeastern regions of Baalbek and Hermel. There were also protests in the northern city of Tripoli and the southern city of Sidon.

Comments 5
Missing un520 29 September 2019, 13:54

Relax, Iran will save us...

Thumb lebanon_first 29 September 2019, 16:32

I think the non intervention of the central bank to keep exchange rate was on purpose to shock the public servants and all those protesting salary cuts.
If they keep protedring, they would lise not 3% of their retirement, but 50% of their purchasing power.

Thumb Geralt 30 September 2019, 11:46

I think you live in a parallel universe.

Missing rabiosa 29 September 2019, 18:12

There were no reforms made. All they did was increase taxes on everything. You cannot tax your way out of an economic deficit. This is exactly what they call Tax & Spend. As the article says it's a dollar based economy, with most basic necessities run by the government. In other words it's a socialist system that eventually will collapse after you run out of other people's money. As I've said before or so have other economist, there is no solution to the corruption and mismanagement except privatization of all state owned industries.

Ministries need to posed out as well. Amongst them, the Information Ministry. I have no idea what's its for. Only dictatorships and despotic regimes have those.

As small a country as Lebanon is, there should only the a Foreign, Interior, Defense, Finance, Transport, Education, Housing & Urban Development and Health Ministries.

Thumb Geralt 30 September 2019, 11:56

It should be like in George Orwell's novel 1984 four ministries: the Ministry of Truth, the Ministry of Peace, the Ministry of Plenty, and the Ministry of Love.