{
 "id": "lebanon-2019-2023",
 "country": "Lebanon",
 "currency": "Lebanese Pound",
 "periodStart": "2019",
 "periodEnd": "2023",
 "peakInflation": "52.6% (implied)",
 "peakMonthlyPct": 52.6,
 "peakMonth": "July 2020",
 "hkEpisode": "Jul 2020 (implied, Hanke)",
 "currencyReform": "None — the pound still runs",
 "cause": "Banking collapse behind a fixed peg",
 "resolution": "Stable rate since mid-2023; deposits still frozen",
 "url": "https://hyperinflation.rogzy.org/lebanon-2019-2023/",
 "summary": "For 22 years the pound was pegged at 1,507.5 to the dollar. The peg was held up by deposits that banks lent to the central bank, which used them to fund the state, under a system its critics compare to a Ponzi scheme. In 2019 the dollars stopped coming. Banks froze withdrawals, the state defaulted (March 2020), and the parallel rate went from 1,500 to about 140,000 in March 2023. Steve Hanke counted it as hyperinflation no. 62, at 52.6 % a month (implied) in July 2020. Official monthly inflation never reached 50 %, but annual inflation reached 221 % in 2023.",
 "timeline": [
  {
   "date": "1997",
   "event": "The peg at 1,507.5."
  },
  {
   "date": "Aug – Oct 2019",
   "event": "A dollar shortage, the October protests, and informal capital controls by the banks."
  },
  {
   "date": "Mar 2020",
   "event": "Default."
  },
  {
   "date": "Jul 2020",
   "event": "Hanke: 52.6 % a month (implied), hyperinflation no. 62."
  },
  {
   "date": "4 Aug 2020",
   "event": "The port explosion."
  },
  {
   "date": "Jun 2021",
   "event": "The World Bank warns that this could be one of the three most severe crises since the mid-19th century."
  },
  {
   "date": "Feb 2023",
   "event": "The official rate is moved to 15,000."
  },
  {
   "date": "Mar 2023",
   "event": "The parallel peak, about 140,000."
  },
  {
   "date": "Since mid-2023",
   "event": "About 89,500, stable; the economy runs largely in dollars."
  }
 ],
 "banknotes": [
  {
   "label": "10,000 Lebanese pounds (2021)",
   "image": "https://hyperinflation.rogzy.org/assets/bills/web/10k_Liban.jpg"
  }
 ],
 "exchangeRates": {
  "unit": "Lebanese Pounds per 1 USD (parallel market rate)",
  "approximate": false,
  "notes": "Pegged at 1,507.5 pounds per dollar from 1997 to October 2019. Parallel rate: about 140,000 at its peak in March 2023, stable near 89,500 since mid-2023. Inflation was 221% in 2023 (Wikipedia).",
  "sources": [
   "DolarToday Lebanon (lebanese-lira.org)",
   "Lira Rate",
   "BLOMINVEST Bank"
  ],
  "points": [
   {
    "date": "2019-07",
    "rate": 1600
   },
   {
    "date": "2019-10",
    "rate": 1700
   },
   {
    "date": "2019-12",
    "rate": 2100
   },
   {
    "date": "2020-04",
    "rate": 3000
   },
   {
    "date": "2020-06",
    "rate": 5000
   },
   {
    "date": "2020-08",
    "rate": 7500
   },
   {
    "date": "2020-12",
    "rate": 8500
   },
   {
    "date": "2021-03",
    "rate": 14000
   },
   {
    "date": "2021-06",
    "rate": 15200
   },
   {
    "date": "2021-08",
    "rate": 19000
   },
   {
    "date": "2021-12",
    "rate": 27000
   },
   {
    "date": "2022-06",
    "rate": 27500
   },
   {
    "date": "2022-11",
    "rate": 37000
   },
   {
    "date": "2023-02",
    "rate": 63000
   },
   {
    "date": "2023-03",
    "rate": 134900
   },
   {
    "date": "2023-07",
    "rate": 90000
   },
   {
    "date": "2023-12",
    "rate": 89500
   },
   {
    "date": "2024-05",
    "rate": 89600
   }
  ]
 },
 "sources": [
  "Wikipedia, \"Lebanese liquidity crisis\" (read 2026-10-05): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebanese_liquidity_crisis",
  "Hanke, S. H. (2020), \"Lebanon Hyperinflates\", Cato Institute: https://www.cato.org/commentary/lebanon-hyperinflates"
 ],
 "licence": "Text and data: MIT (c) 2026 Rogzy. Banknote images (c) David St-Onge, not covered by the MIT licence."
}