Beirut protests as currency hits new record low

Angry protesters closed several neighbourhoods in Beirut Tuesday as the local currency hit a new record low while some business owners said their sales dropped up to 90%.

The crash in the local currency in Lebanon is throwing many people into poverty with salaries losing their value by the week and businesses closing down amid shortage of buyers, as people only spend on their urgent needs such as food and medicine.

Fist fights have broken out in supermarkets as shoppers argue over subsidised products while some areas have been hit by gasoline shortages leading to long lines outside gas stations.

Lebanon's pound hit a new record low on Tuesday trading at 15,000 to the US dollar after it had hit record lows on a nearly daily basis over the past two weeks.

The crash in the local currency that has resulted in a sharp increase in prices led to the outbreak of small protests in a number of cities around the country.

While the dollar traded at 15,000 Lebanese pounds on Tuesday, the previous record was registered the day before at 14,000.

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 blast in Beirut's port last August that decimated the facility.