Lebanese
protest despite government's economic rescue plan
Hundreds of Lebanese have
protested outside the central bank and in other parts of the country
Associated Press
1 May 2020, 17:43
BEIRUT --
Hundreds of Lebanese rallied Friday outside the central bank in Beirut and in
elsewhere in the country, a day after the prime minister said he will seek a
rescue program from the International Monetary Fund to deal with a spiraling
economic and financial crisis.
The
protesters decried the authorities for their handling of the unprecedented
crisis that saw the local currency crash, devastate their savings and send
prices and inflation soaring. Scuffles broke out outside a private bank and
troops were seen beating and pulling away at least one protester.
The government “is not even
providing the most basic needs," said a protester in Beirut, Ahmad
Demashqia. There were also rallies in northern and southern Lebanon to
commemorated May Day, the international Labor Day.
Lebanese
Prime Minister Hassan Diab, who on Friday signed the official request for
assistance from IMF, said the government has taken “the first step on the path
to saving Lebanon from the deep financial pit" On Thursday, the Cabinet
adopted a long-awaited rescue plan.
But the
protesters seemed skeptical. In the southern city of Sidon, 19-year-old Omar
al-Mughrabi said the country needs radical change — not reform of failing or
ineffective policies.
“Going to the
IMF is not the solution," al-Mughrab said “We don't need any more debts
than we already have.”
Lebanon, one of the most
indebted nations in the world, defaulted for the first time in March on its
sovereign debt. Anti-government protests that erupted in October subsided
during a nationwide lockdown since mid-March to blunt the spread of the
coronavirus. Lebanon, a country of 5 million people, has reported only 729
cases and 24 deaths, and began to ease some virus restrictions this week.
Many, but not all, of the
protesters wore face masks against the virus.
But the lockdown also worsened
the recession's sharp bite, increasing unemployment and popular resentment. In
recent days, protesters ignored social distancing measures and calls to stay
home to rally outside the central bank and private banks, setting off clashes
with the security forces and the army. In the northern city of Tripoli, a
protester was killed earlier this week.
Prices of basic goods have
increased, in some cases by over 60%. The Lebanese pound, pegged to the dollar for
30 years, lost nearly 60% of its value.
With a stable national
currency, the Lebanese had used their pound and the dollar interchangeably,
many keeping their savings in dollars. To deal with a liquidity crunch and a
massive imports bill, the central bank decreed that most withdrawals could only
be in the local currency. The decision further weakened the pound, sending it
plunging on the black market to nearly three times the official rate.
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