Lebanon’s ecomony was already in crisis when the deadly blast in Beirut happened. Lebanon was suffering from worst conditions in this pandemic with falling economy, rising corona virus cases and corrupt government when this sad incident took place. As a result of gross mismanagement, 4 August’s blast in the capital shook the general public. The negligence of potentially explosive chemicals created outrage in the Beirut’s residents. Dozens of protestors gathered outside the prime minister’s office and attacked the security forces.
The government stepped down with resignations. The Prime Minister Hassan Diab called this as a ‘disaster beyond measure’ killing more than 160 people and missing ones. Diab said the explosion was an earthquake that rocked the country and we have to stand with our people. He prompted his government to resign and on Monday night, he announced his resignation. Three cabinet ministers had already quit, along with seven members of parliament. Now Lebanon will be finding its third prime minister in less than a year.
Lebanon’s currency was already weakened around 70% since the anti-government protests started in last October. The World Bank has projected that poverty is on its peak and that half of Lebanon’s population would become poor in 2020. The government seemed to fail in the time of the growing economic crisis.
The country is running out of cash resources when the demand is high and facing acute shortage but the government didn’t pass the capital’s control law. People have been withdrawing cash in the time of lockdown and country’s elites have withdrawn billions of US dollars further depleting the country’s foreign currency reserves. The pandemic of corona virus further disturbed the country’s ailing economy earlier this year. Diab ministers accused the ruling elites of disrupting their plans for reforms.
In an International Donor’s conference hosted by French President, US President Donald Trump and 15 other heads of state , pledged for approximately $300 million in aid to Lebanon. United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for donors to help speedily and generously for fast recovery.