Lebanon is in the grip of a severe and protracted economic downturn. According to the most recent World Bank Lebanon Economic Monitor (LEM), issued today, the economic and financial crisis is likely to rank in the top ten most catastrophic crises worldwide since the mid-nineteenth century.

Monetary and financial circumstances remain very volatile; in the framework of a multiple exchange rate system, the World Bank average exchange rate depreciated by 129% in 2020. The effect on pricing has resulted in soaring inflation, which is expected to average 84.3 percent in 2020. Real GDP is expected to decrease by 9.5 percent in 2021, owing to extremely high uncertainty.

More than half the population is expected to b below the national poverty line, with the majority of the workforce - paid in Lebanese pounds - suffering from falling buying power. With the unemployment rate rising, an increasing number of households are having trouble accessing essential services like as health care, electricity, food, fuel etc.