Scrapping the Bottom

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Lebanese riot police clashed with protesters in the capital Wednesday, the latest unrest to grip the beleaguered nation amid an economic collapse and a plummeting local currency, the Associated Press reported.

Authorities fired tear gas at demonstrators – many of them retired soldiers and police officials – who were trying to storm the government’s headquarters in Beirut.

The protests were called by former security forces and depositors complaining that they can’t access their savings held in local banks. Lebanese banks have imposed a number of informal capital controls amid currency shortages.

The violence came a day after the Lebanese pound hit a new low, selling at more than 143,000 pounds to the dollar – the official rate is 15,000 pounds to the dollar.

Since 2019, Lebanon has been grappling with a financial crisis caused by decades of corruption and mismanagement by a political elite that has ruled the country since the end of the 1975-90 civil war.

Most Lebanese are paid the local currency and have seen the value of their salaries decline in recent years as the pound crashed – its value has declined by more than 95 percent over the past three years.

Now, many businesses, restaurants and grocery stores have begun pricing their goods and services in dollars.

Economists worry that the “dollarization” risks exacerbating the crisis and pushing more people into poverty.

Lebanon has also stalled on measures as part of an agreement with the International Monetary Fund in order to secure access to $3 billion in bailout funds and unlock more in development aid to restart the country’s economy.