BREAKDOWN: When Currencies Fail... A Primer on the Dollar Crisis in Lebanon

A massive shortage of dollars is instigating economic chaos, including a more than 50% loss of value in the Lebanese pound.

Apr 29, 2020

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ABOUT

The Lebanese pound has lost at least 50% of its value against the dollar since last year. 220,000 people have lost their jobs. Food prices are up 58%. An estimated 75% of the population needs assistance of some kind. And over the last two nights, at least a dozen banks have been torched by protesters.

The catalyst? Not coronavirus, but a massive dollar shortage that is destroying an economy that relies on inflows of US dollars to function.

In this episode, NLW breaks down how Lebanon models what it looks like for a currency to fail, and why this likely isn’t the last emerging market currency to experience a similar crisis in the months to come.

HOST

CoinDesk

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