On Tuesday, the Lebanese pound plunged to 15,000 against the dollar, a new sign of Lebanon’s near-total economic collapse, as well as the inability – sometimes unwillingness – of most of its politicians to do anything about it. A state’s ability to function is equal parts a matter of politics and economy. In Lebanon, both are in total disarray.
Banknotes and coins are more to a nation than legally binding pieces of paper and metal. In many countries, currency denotes a promise to "pay the bearer the sum" of a certain amount, a simple enough function. Nonetheless, in the UK, for example, preserving the deeper symbolism of the national currency was deemed so important by some citizens that it sparked an entire political movement to protect it against the EU-wide rollout of the Euro in 2002.
When it comes to the Lebanese pound, there are more pressing issues to worry about. The World Bank now considers half of all Lebanese citizens to be living in poverty. In less than a month, the pound has nosedived by 50 per cent. A lack of hard foreign currency reserves, so important for a state that relies heavily on imports, means many do not have access to essentials goods, such as food and medicine. The nation faces a crisis in debt, fiscal spending and in its once-leading banking sector, which had previously given it the nickname the "Switzerland of the Middle East".
Lebanon's descent is a reminder how bad things can get, particularly in resource-poor and politically volatile countries, particularly in the Middle East
The Lebanese economy of today operates on fragile foundations. Since the civil war ended in 1990, successive governments have shirked dealing with compounding levels of public debt, a result of excessively unsustainable spending. The country's modern economic model generates insufficient domestic capital, and is instead overly reliant on money coming in from outside, whether through foreign aid, tourism and, most importantly, remittances from Lebanese living abroad.
There are huge levels of corruption, often worst exemplified in the public sector. Fighting corruption is the most common trait uniting protestors on the streets of Lebanon. While enriching themselves, some of the most influential voices in Lebanese politics, largely aligned with Hezbollah, are happy to push narratives that revel in the nobility of poverty and fuel a resistance mentality built on false claims of international conspiracies against Lebanese society.
There are a number of avenues for the government to secure financial help. Organisations like the IMF and various foreign partner countries, most notably France, stand ready to do so. All potential donors have made major reform a condition for any bailout. Unsurprisingly, it has been impossible to enact this change in a political system that lacks the will to improve, given the fact that so many in power benefit from its dysfunction. Any reformer that overcomes this pervasive challenge would still face the near-impossible task of fixing a dysfunctional economy that has been mutating over decades. The prime minister designate Saad Hariri continues to seek cooperation from other political actors to put together a cabinet of technical experts to rescue the economy but is met with stubborn narrow political interests.
Lebanon's descent is a reminder how bad things can get, particularly in resource-poor and politically volatile countries, particularly in the Middle East. In a domestic system as damaged as this, Lebanon’s people deserve support. Their allies must not give up on them.
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
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Hurricanes 31-31 Lions
Wellington Hurricanes:
Tries: Gibbins, Laumape, Goosen, Fifita tries, Barrett
Conversions: Barrett (4)
Penalties: Barrett
British & Irish Lions:
Tries: Seymour (2), North
Conversions: Biggar (2)
Penalties: Biggar (4)
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The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Zakat definitions
Zakat: an Arabic word meaning ‘to cleanse’ or ‘purification’.
Nisab: the minimum amount that a Muslim must have before being obliged to pay zakat. Traditionally, the nisab threshold was 87.48 grams of gold, or 612.36 grams of silver. The monetary value of the nisab therefore varies by current prices and currencies.
Zakat Al Mal: the ‘cleansing’ of wealth, as one of the five pillars of Islam; a spiritual duty for all Muslims meeting the ‘nisab’ wealth criteria in a lunar year, to pay 2.5 per cent of their wealth in alms to the deserving and needy.
Zakat Al Fitr: a donation to charity given during Ramadan, before Eid Al Fitr, in the form of food. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of the needs of themselves and their family must pay two qadahs (an old measure just over 2 kilograms) of flour, wheat, barley or rice from each person in a household, as a minimum.
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Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
