Explainer: Lebanon’s financial crisis and how it happened
- Unfettered spending after war brought nation to its knees
- Gulf states withdrew support as Iran’s influence increased
- Political paralysis, infighting have hampered recovery
- Middle East turmoil, Beirut blast added to pressures
Jan 23 (Reuters) – Lebanon is grappling with a deep economic crisis after successive governments piled up debt following the 1975-1990 civil war with little to show for their spending binge.
Banks, central to the service-oriented economy, are paralysed. Savers have been locked out of dollar accounts or told that funds they can access are now worth a fraction of their original value. The currency has crashed, driving a swathe of the population into poverty. read more
WHERE DID IT GO WRONG?
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Lebanon’s financial collapse since 2019 is a story of how a vision for rebuilding a nation once known as the Switzerland of the Middle East was derailed by mismanagement…
