Features of the Current Socioeconomic Crisis in Lebanon

Abstract

The author of the article attempts to investigate various aspects of the current socio-economic and monetary-financial crisis in Lebanon, while analyzing the main external and internal factors that have contributed to the exacerbation of many problems the country is currently facing over the past two decades. One of the most important reasons for the significant deterioration of the macroeconomic and social situation in the 2010s is associated with the intensification in political tensions both within the country and in the Middle East region, in particular, with the Syrian military conflict that began in March 2011. The socio-economic problems erupted in the late 2010s into massive protests by the Lebanese population across the country. Following the aggravation of the political and economic situation in early 2020, the crisis related to the global COVID-19 pandemic spread to Lebanon. Given numerous complex challenges facing Lebanon today, the latest crisis, as can be expected, hit hard on the country’s highly volatile economy. Along with COVID-19, the Lebanese economy was seriously affected by the explosion that occurred in the Port of Beirut on August 4, 2020. Therefore, the author of the article focuses on studying the consequences of these events for the economic situation and incomes of the country’s population, as well as measures taken by the Lebanese authorities for minimization of social and economic damage. When examining the current socio-economic crisis in Lebanon, the author pays special attention to such most acute problems requiring urgent solution as the high level of public debt and budget deficit, growth of poverty and social inequality. © 2021, Russian Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.