Lebanon: Dollars shield some from hyperinflation crisis

Lebanon: Dollars shield some from hyperinflation crisis

Berlin: Long queues outside gas stations, empty shelves in pharmacies and often more than 20 hours of power outages a day — the situation in Lebanon was grim even before the Central Bank decided to lift the subsidies for fuel imports this week. Signs of the crisis are easy to spot everywhere in Lebanon: The elderly woman who asks for money in the evening — she doesn't seem like one who ever had to beg in her life. The cab driver who had to give up his cat because he could no longer afford to feed it. The woman who wanted to buy yogurt in the store and changed her mind after she heard the price. Since the exchange rate of the Lebanese pound was pegged to the US dollar in 1997 (1 US dollar = 1, 507 Lebanese pounds, also referred to as Lebanese lira), and, until 2019, Lebanon's currency had been fairly stable. But since the economic crisis hit in late 2019, the pound has lost about 90% of its value. Currently, $1 is sold for 23, 000 Lebanese pounds on the black market. This means that nowadays having dinner in a good restaurant is the equivalent of