, Columnist
Desperation Might Just Drive Lebanon To Reform
If international donors hold firm to their conditions for a bailout, economic and political change may be possible.
Man in the middle of the muddle.
Photographer: Hussein Malla/AP via ShutterstockThis article is for subscribers only.
The most severe of Lebanon’s intersecting crises is the country’s seemingly inexorable spiral toward economic catastrophe. In only the latest of many harbingers of doom, the likelihood of a default on a government bond due next month has sent stocks crashing to a 15-year low.
It’s not just investors who’re spooked. The national carrier, Middle East Airlines, was panicked into announcing that it would no longer accept Lebanese currency for payments. The decision was quickly rescinded, but it was a stunning vote of no-confidence in the pound, and by extension the economy and the government.