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Why is Lebanon falling apart?

A deep financial crisis in Lebanon has pushed 80 per cent of the population into poverty. There's political deadlock, and a powerless caretaker government. So why is it failing?

Lebanon is experiencing of one of the world’s worst-ever economic disasters.

Its currency has lost 90 per cent of its value. 80 per cent of the population is now in poverty, and inflation is in triple figures.

Some people are resorting to armed robbery of the banks who are denying them full access to their own savings.

The political system is deadlocked too - with no President and only a caretaker government to try to pull the country back from the brink.

And cholera – an entirely preventable disease - has returned for the first time in 30 years.

So how did Lebanon fall so far, so fast? This week on The Inquiry we’re asking: Why is Lebanon falling apart?

Presented by Anna Foster
Produced by Ravi Naik
Researcher Christopher Blake
Editor Tara McDermott
Technical producer Craig Boardman
Broadcast Coordinator Brenda Brown

(a demonstrator waves the Lebanese flag in front of riot police during a protest in Beirut, Lebanon 2020. Credit: Reuters/Goran Tomasevic)

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23 minutes

Last on

Thu 15 Dec 2022 23:06GMT

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  • Thu 15 Dec 2022 08:06GMT
  • Thu 15 Dec 2022 15:06GMT
  • Thu 15 Dec 2022 18:06GMT
  • Thu 15 Dec 2022 23:06GMT

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