Balance of Payments

This video explores the bleak situation facing the county of Lebanon. Decades of corruption and fiscal mismanagement have put the country in a precarious position as it now faces both a foreign debt crisis and a banking crisis. Both of these crises are likely to be exacerbated by a health crisis related to the novel coronavirus pandemic that is quickly moving around the world. While Lebanon’s number of COVID-19 infections is still relatively low, the country’s lack of a real public health system together with its high levels of debt and a lack of confidence in its banking system have left the country in a vulnerable state. Lebanon has long imported more than it exports, raising questions as to whether it can be self-sufficient and if not, how it will pay for the goods and services its citizens need, especially as the country, following the example of much of the rest of the world, closes its businesses in an attempt to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.