Starved of dollars and drowning in debt, Lebanon's economy sinks fast - Reuters

Starved of dollars and drowning in debt, Lebanon's economy sinks fast - Reuters:

After importing medical supplies to Lebanon for 20 years, Hassan Hamdan shut his business in December. Sales were plummeting, clients couldn’t pay, and the dollars he needed to buy imports had dried up. Now he drives an Uber.

Businesses such as Hamdan’s have been shutting at a rapid rate since a financial crisis exacerbated by months of political instability has brought much of Lebanon’s economy to a halt.

“Everyone is in debt - even me - because of what’s happening. But I’m able to afford food for the house and a few bills. Without Uber, I would be begging,” said Hamdan, 37.

While Lebanon produces little hard, up-to-date economic data, interviews with two dozen business owners, union leaders, industry groups and traders paint a picture of an economic and financial crisis without precedent since independence in 1943.