Lebanon Unrest Mounts

The crash of Lebanon’s national currency that sent food prices soaring has boiled over into street violence in the northern city of Tripoli  where a man wounded in clashes between protesters and security forces is now dead.

Tripoli, Lebanon’s second-largest city, has soaring unemployment and poverty, and protesters hurled petrol bombs at several banks and caused wide damage. Protests also erupted elsewhere in Lebanon. In Beirut,  cash machines were set on fire.  Anti-government protests resumed as authorities began easing the weeks-long lockdown to limit the spread of the coronavirus pandemic in Lebanon, which has reported 710 cases and 24 deaths so far.

Over the weekend, the Lebanese pound hit a record low, with 4,000 pounds to the dollar on the black market, while the official price remained at 1,507 pounds.  The Central Bank of Lebanon instructed currency exchange shops not to sell the dollar for more than 3,200 pounds. On Monday, most exchange shops were not selling dollars, saying clients who have dollars are refusing to exchange their currency at such a low price. The dollar surged on the black market to 4,300 pounds on Tuesday.