As Lebanon’s economy drowns in debt, Syria’s begins to sink as well

Source:the Economist Date:15Dec2019

Lebanon’s crisis is rippling across the border into Syria. Their economies have long been linked. Syrian labourers rebuilt Lebanon after its civil war, which ended in 1990. Banks in Beirut were a safe place for wealthy Syrians to park their cash. Since the Syrian conflict began in 2011, businessmen have used Lebanon to skirt sanctions and do deals abroad. But Lebanon is no use as a financial hub if its financial sector is frozen. With dollars scarce, the Syrian pound has followed its Lebanese counterpart and crashed to record lows, from 500 to the dollar at the beginning of 2019 to 950 in early December (see chart). Though it has stabilised a bit, Syrians expect it to fall further in 2020.