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Well, the currency lost something like 90% of its value over the last year since the blast. (https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/04/05/lebanon-currency-inflation-exc
by recuter 5y ago
Well, the currency lost something like 90% of its value over the last year since the blast. (https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/04/05/lebanon-currency-inflation-exchange-rates/ https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/04/05/lebanon-currency-inflat...)
This April the black market rate dropped to 12,000 and caused minor riots. Now its at 18,000 and plunging in fits and starts.
The median salary is now something like $30 a month (down from $600 couple years ago). The army no longer being able to afford to feed its soldiers has resorted to giving helicopter tours to tourists (https://english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-east/2021/06/29/Lebanon-army-offers-tourists-helicopter-joyrides-for-150-in-cash-payment https://english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-east/2021/06/29/Le...).
There's gas shortages and riots everyday all over the place. This is Tripoli now: https://www.reddit.com/r/lebanon/comments/oaw4h5/tripoli_right_now/ https://www.reddit.com/r/lebanon/comments/oaw4h5/tripoli_rig...
The foreign currency reserves have dwindled over the last year from $30 billion to $15, the minimum required by law is currently $14, and their very extensive food subsidies program is costing them 500 million a month and is about to be nixed. They can't maintain their electric grid and people get only a few hours of power a day.
Also this whole time there hasn't been a government. All the key players are corrupt beyond belief and wanted for either terrorism, drug trafficking or embezzlement.
Pretty sure they will indeed have a famine soon if nothing changes.
- devoutsalsa 5y ago> The foreign currency reserves have dwindled over the last year from $30 billion to $15, the minimum required by law is currently $14 Is that $15,000,000,000 or $15.00? Just curious :P
- aparsons 5y agoComments like these are generally not constructive to discussions. You are on the internet, on Hacker News, so I assume you’re probably living in a first-world country and completed secondary school or college. Which number do you think is more likely?
- andyana 5y agoWhat a dumb assumption on your part.
- glial 5y agoI went to Turkey in 2005. The 1 lyra note was also the 1,000,000 Lyra note.
- kingofpandora 5y agoOne million lira was equivalent to one new lira.
- glial 5y agoYes. I apologize for messing up the spelling. It just struck me as amazing that they still used the old bank notes, and just cut 6 0’s off for the conversion.
- indeedmug 5y agoI thought the guy was talking about $15 too. I figured that they completely ran out of foreign currency.
- Bombthecat 5y agoWow, that's bad, you think there will be a revolution?
- temp22334455 5y agoThis was really eye opening. Thank you for posting. In your opinion, what stops people from organizing to form a new government?
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- throwaway984393 5y ago"Better to have a corrupt government than no government at all"
- Goety 5y agoThey should be concerned of who wants to buy the infrastructure at a reduced price
- anonu 5y ago> Pretty sure they will indeed have a famine soon if nothing changes. Your reasoning and argument to suggest famine will befall the country is a non sequitur. You list a bunch of events and provide citations. Sure, these are fact. But I am not sure how a halving of billions of dollars of currency reserves at the central bank, for example, leads to famine in a country like Lebanon. Don't forget that not too long ago Lebanon went through a civil war that wrecked the country - but there was no famine to go with it. Nassim Taleb speaks a lot about "anti-fragile" - partly because he is from Lebanon and sees the concept play out everyday. That anti-fragility would prevent a true famine from occurring: a rich and extensive diaspora amongst many other qualities.