The World Bank reports that Lebanon’s economy is seeing a once-in-a-lifetime collapse in hyperinflation and power outages.
A small country in the Middle East experienced inconsistent power supplies and power outages after a major explosion in the capital Beirut last year. The country, which is also working on hyperinflation, has faced one of the three worst economic recessions in the world since the mid-1800s. according to To the World Bank.
“Lebanon’s GDP plummeted from nearly US $ 55 billion in 2018 to an estimated US $ 33 billion in 2020, reducing per capita GD by about 40%,” the organization said in a recent news release. Stated. Report (pdf).. “Such brutal and rapid contractions are usually associated with conflict and war,” the report said, but Lebanon has been regarded as a country vulnerable to conflict and violence.
He added more and more “disastrous socio-economic conditions” and “failures of systematic states at risk with regional and potentially global consequences.”
“This shows the magnitude of the economic recession that the country is enduring, sadly without a clear turning point on the horizon, given the dire and deliberate policy omissions. Already a dire crisis society. The impact can be rapidly catastrophic. According to the report, more than half of the population is likely to be below the country’s poverty line. “
NS analysis From The Wall Street Journal, we’ve put at least part of the big explosion that shook Beirut about a year ago last August. Power outages are common in the capital, and restaurants, for example, need to use portable generators to generate electricity.
According to the governor of Beirut, the blast killed at least 200 people and caused $ 15 billion in damage. The Lebanese government was also forced to resign under widespread pressure from protesters.
“I set out to combat corruption, but I found that corruption was greater than the state,” Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab said in a widespread resignation. “Today I declare the resignation of this government. God blesses Lebanon.”
According to the report, supermarkets are in conflict as they try to buy bread, sugar, oil and other commodities before they run out and inflation reaches 400%. Murder rates and other crimes are also increasing rapidly.
Experts warn that an economic collapse could put a country into a failed state.
“We will not only have a government absence and a political gap, but will also have serious problems with the functioning of the Lebanese state,” Lebanese American University political scientist Imad Salami told The Wall Street Journal. rice field. “We are heading into an unknown world.”
Jack phillips
Senior reporter
Jack Phillips is a New York-based reporter for The Epoch Times.