Editing Economy of Lebanon (section)

===== Currency crisis =====

Lebanon's national currency, the Lebanese pound is pegged to the US dollar at £L15,000 to US$1. This fixed rate has been unstable due to the depreciating value of the pound in the black market. According to reports, the pound was trading at £L8,100 to US$1 in 2019 on the black market. The causes of the pound's depreciation can be traced back to the economy's dependence on imports. Lebanon in 2018 imported US$20 bn worth of goods and exported goods worth only US$3 bn.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Foreign trade figures of Lebanon – Economic and Political Overview – Nordea Trade Portal|url=https://www.nordeatrade.com/en/explore-new-market/lebanon/trade-profile|access-date=2020-09-19|website=www.nordeatrade.com|archive-date=27 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027082042/https://www.nordeatrade.com/en/explore-new-market/lebanon/trade-profile|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> This [[trade deficit]] also widened as the remittances share, which was around 24 percent in 2008 declined to nearly 12 percent in 2018. This coupled with geopolitical tensions of the region, caused the Pound-Dollar peg rate to wither. As a response, the [[central bank]] resorted to more borrowing and also issued a directive that required all money transfer offices to cash out transfers in the local currency, further exacerbating the dollar crunch.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Meuse|first=Alison Tahmizian|date=2019-10-27|title=Lebanon's shuttered banks bracing for dollar run|url=https://asiatimes.com/2019/10/lebanons-shuttered-banks-bracing-for-dollar-run/|access-date=2020-09-19|website=Asia Times|language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite news|date=2020-08-05|title=Lebanon: Why the country is in crisis|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-53390108|access-date=2020-09-19}}</ref><ref name=":1" />