The rate of the Lebanese pound fell today (Thursday) to over 80 thousand pounds to the dollar on the black market, compared to ten times last month. The official exchange rate is 15 thousand lira to the dollar, compared to 1,500 dollars to the lira in January. The decline in the value of money and the severe economic crisis led to the worsening of the riots in Lebanon against the regime, the economic institutions and the bank branches. In Beirut and other cities, protesters set fire to bank branches, trying to break into and loot the ATMs on the way.
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This protest broke out partly due to the restrictions imposed by the government on withdrawing foreign currency from accounts and deposits. Bank Street in the A-Sharfieh neighborhood in Beirut was blocked with burning tires and protesters tried to break into the house of Salim Speir, the chairman of the Lebanese Banks Association.
Against the backdrop of the severe economic crisis and the continued collapse of the Lebanese pound, Lebanese Economy Minister Amin Salam announced that from now on prices in supermarkets, pharmacies and marketing chains will be displayed in dollars. However, according to the reports in Lebanon, the supermarkets are almost empty of goods, the gas stations have limited stock and huge queues are long at their doors, the pharmacies are also empty, and many basic products are simply not available. The main reason is the inability of the Lebanese government to finance the purchase of goods in foreign currency, and the dysfunction of the banks makes it difficult for importers.
The economy in Lebanon was almost completely shut down
The protest also led to strikes, all civil servants including the teaching staff in the education system are on strike, and the meaning is an almost complete shutdown of the economy. In the absence of a president, since there is no agreement between the various denominations on one candidate, the government has difficulty functioning and making decisions and worse, without a president, a loan of $3 billion from the International Monetary Fund and aid grants worth ten billion are stuck. The stipulation of the fund and the donor countries is economic reforms and the appointment of a president, and in the meantime this is not in sight.
The one who is taking advantage of the situation to threaten the United States and Israel is Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, who in today’s speech threatened that if the US does not stop, as he says, from harming the Lebanese economy, he will attack its interests in the region, including Israel. Between the Governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon Riyad Salameh, the suspect in a serious corruption case and the theft of hundreds of millions of dollars. The United States accuses that Salamee had a connection to Hezbollah, who used this connection to launder money from drug sales and other international criminal activity.
In a speech, Nasrallah said that “If America pushes Lebanon into anarchy – there will be anarchy in the entire region. If your plot is aimed at hitting our arm, we will turn our weapons to your arm – Israel” he added a new old threat to the Harish rig “I heard that Israel has started extracting gas and oil from Harish We will not agree to a delay in extracting gas from Lebanese waters, and if we find out that they have played at our expense – we will not allow oil and gas to be extracted from Kharish.”
Nasrallah, by the way, commented extensively on the legal reform crisis in Israel and with a broad smile quoted from senior Israeli officials: “We hear the words of the president of the Zionist entity and former prime ministers Lapid, Bennett, Olmert, Barak and former defense ministers and generals who talk about civil war and bloodshed and that there is no solution to what the government wants to do the new”. Israel will not survive its 80th year, the leader of Hezbollah predicted, that his country is facing complete bankruptcy and everyone who can escape from it.