Hundreds of Lebanese protestors take to streets

Special Desk

For a second consecutive night hundreds of people held protests in cities across Lebanon over the handling of the country’s economic crisis.

Protestors pointed out that the Lebanese pound has fallen to record lows, having lost 70% of its value since October, when the protests began. The financial crisis, they said, has worsened during the coronavirus pandemic.

Protesters in the capital, Beirut, and in the northern city of Tripoli, came on the roads threw stones and fireworks at police who used tear gas and rubber bullets to control an irate mob. The pound’s decline appeared to halt on Friday after the government announced that the central bank would begin injecting more US dollars into the market. This, in a bid to stop the pound’s ongoing freefall. This move is slated to begin from Monday.

October 2019, was a busy month for Lebanon, as the authorities grappled with one crisis after the other. It started with importers complaining about a shortage of US dollars in the country’s commercial banks, which led to the Lebanese pound losing value against the dollar for the first time in two decades on the newly emerged black market.

Then on 14 October unprecedented wildfires swept through the country’s western mountains, and Cyprus, Greece and Jordan were called upon for help after it was revealed Lebanon’s own fire-fighting aircraft was not in a fit state to deal with the blaze due to a lack of funds.

Residents were left unimpressed, with some noting how riot police vehicles equipped with water cannons had been fully maintained and were able to help battle the flames.

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However any bailout is expected to involve painful economic reforms in a country built on a sectarian political system that is likely to face stiff resistance from the entrenched parties.

Many Lebanese citizens who rely on hard currency savings have fallen into poverty due to capital controls, as banks restrict dollar withdrawals. More than a third of the population is unemployed. In Tripoli, protesters damaged the outside of several banks and shops, throwing petrol bombs at soldiers.