Lebanon currency hits record low as country's crises worsen

Beirut: The Lebanese pound hit a record low against the dollar on the black market on Tuesday as the country's political crisis deepens with no prospects of new Cabinet in the near future and foreign currency reserves dwindle further.

The dollar was trading at 9,975 Lebanese pounds around noon Tuesday. The previous record was registered in July, when the dollar briefly sold for 9,900 pounds on the black market. The official price remains 1,520 pounds to the dollar. Lebanon has been hammered by one crisis after another, starting with the outbreak of anti-government protests against the country's corrupt political class in October 2019. That has been compounded by the coronavirus pandemic and a massive, deadly blast in Beirut's port last August.

In neighbouring Syria where the economy has been hit by the 10-year conflict, corruption and Western sanctions the dollar also hit a record on Monday, reaching nearly 3,900 Syrian pounds.