When Currencies Fail: A Primer on the Crisis in Lebanon

The Lebanese pound has lost at least 50% of its value since last year. 220,000 people have lost their jobs. Food prices are up 58%. An estimated 75% of the population needs assistance of some kind. And over the last two nights, at least a dozen banks have been torched by protesters.   

The catalyst? Not coronavirus, but a massive dollar shortage that is destroying an economy that relies on inflows of USD to function. 

In this episode, NLW breaks down how Lebanon models what it looks like for a currency to fail, and why this likely isn’t the last emerging market currency to experience a similar crisis in the months to come.