{"page":"\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/resources-572d6a42.css\" /\u003e\n\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/lp_boclips_stylesheets-f4d0de30.css\" media=\"all\" /\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-title='Lebanon economy under threat from new political crisis' data-url='/boclips/videos/5c54d683d8eafeecae204379' data-video-url='/boclips/videos/5c54d683d8eafeecae204379' id='bo_player_modal'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='boclips-resource-page modal-dialog panel-container'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='react-notifications-root'\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-header'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-type'\u003e\n\u003ci aria-hidden='true' class='fai fa-regular fa-circle-play'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\nVideo\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch1 class='rp-title' id='video-title'\u003e\nLebanon economy under threat from new political crisis\n\u003c/h1\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-actions'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='mr-1'\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"btn btn-success\" data-posthog-event=\"Signup: LP Signup Activity\" data-posthog-location=\"body_link_boclips\" data-remote=\"true\" href=\"/subscription/new\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGet Free Access\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"\"\u003e for 10 Days\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e!\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-body'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-info'\u003e\n\u003cdiv aria-label='Hide resource details' class='rp-hide-info' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u0026times;\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Expand resource details' class='rp-expand-info fai fa-solid fa-up-right-and-down-left-from-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Compress resource details' class='rp-compress-info fai fa-solid fa-down-left-and-up-right-to-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-rating'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='resource-pool'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-label'\u003ePublisher:\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-name'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='text'\u003e\u003ca data-publisher-id=\"30356011\" href=\"/search?publisher_ids%5B%5D=30356011\"\u003eCurated Video\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-description'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='short-description'\u003eJust when things were starting to look up for Lebanon's economy, a new political crisis is threatening to send it crashing down again.              Prime Minister Saad Hariri's shock resignation is threatening to unravel the first steps...\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='full-description hide'\u003eJust when things were starting to look up for Lebanon's economy, a new political crisis is threatening to send it crashing down again.\u003cbr/\u003e              Prime Minister Saad Hariri's shock resignation is threatening to unravel the first steps in years toward injecting some cash and confidence in Lebanon's anemic and unequal economy.\u003cbr/\u003e              Lebanon has long been buffeted by blows of a great powers game between regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran. \u003cbr/\u003e              But its economy sputtered on under a tacit understanding between the regional heavyweights and their local proxies that left Lebanon on the sidelines of that contest. \u003cbr/\u003e              That may have changed Saturday when the Saudi-aligned Hariri announced his resignation in a televised statement from the kingdom's capital, Riyadh, saying Hezbollah, Iran's proxy in Lebanon, had taken the country hostage. \u003cbr/\u003e              It was an unexpected announcement from the premier, who had formed a coalition government with the militant group less than one year ago.\u003cbr/\u003e              The move and exceptionally strong statements by the Saudis against Iran that followed have deepened the mystery about Hariri's fate and led to rumours that he is being held in the kingdom against his will, despite his denials.\u003cbr/\u003e              Since then, the news has only gotten worse. \u003cbr/\u003e              Saudi Arabia, which feels it has been humiliated by Hezbollah's expanding influence in Syria and Iraq, says it will not accept the party as a participant in any government in Lebanon.\u003cbr/\u003e              Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates all ordered their citizens out of Lebanon this week, and the Lebanese are wondering and worried about what's to come.\u003cbr/\u003e              The concern is that the kingdom will throw out its Lebanese guestworkers, as it did with Qatar this summer in a rage over its perceived closeness to Iran.\u003cbr/\u003e              Lebanese are hoping Saudi Arabia will be too wary of the negative impact on its own economy from such a mass expulsion. \u003cbr/\u003e              Many Lebanese hold managerial positions, including in the kingdom's all-important oil sector, and it would take time to refill the posts. \u003cbr/\u003e              An expulsion would also undermine decades of Saudi efforts to cultivate ties with Lebanese Sunnis. \u003cbr/\u003e              Lebanon, once a beacon of free market growth and joie de vivre living, was paralysed for years over how to respond to the catastrophic civil war consuming its neighbour and trade partner, Syria.\u003cbr/\u003e              Hariri's appointment as premier last year signaled the end to that listless period and the country passed its first budget since 2005, raising taxes and public salaries and opening up two oil and gas blocks off its coastline for drilling in a bid to bring in some sorely-needed investment. \u003cbr/\u003e              That project, and a 21 billion US dollar investment plan to improve the countries woefully inadequate infrastructure, is now on ice.\u003cbr/\u003e              Lebanon needs to find revenues to service a public debt that has reached more than 75 billion US dollars - 140 percent of its gross domestic product, a debt-to-GDP ratio that is among the highest in the world.\u003cbr/\u003e              Throughout this it has been supported by the strength of its currency, pegged at 1,500 pounds to the dollar since the 1990s.\u003cbr/\u003e              The Central Bank is in possession of 43.5 billion US dollars in foreign currency reserves - enough to sustain the peg for one to two decades at the current pace of currency conversions.\u003cbr/\u003e              There has been a flurry of transactions from pound to dollar among Lebanese accounts, bankers have told The Associated Press. \u003cbr/\u003e              But for now - and as long as the dollars stay circulating in Lebanon's already largely dollarised economy - there is little concern among experts that the peg will dissolve.\u003cbr/\u003e            \u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003e              Beirut - 10 November 2017\u003cbr/\u003e              1. Banknotes being counted in money counting machine\u003cbr/\u003e              2. Bank employee counting money\u003cbr/\u003e              3. Close of hands counting Lebanese pounds\u003cbr/\u003e              4. Customer at bank counter\u003cbr/\u003e              5. Various of posters depicting Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri on side of road busy with traffic\u003cbr/\u003e              6. Street with traffic in Beirut\u003cbr/\u003e              7. Tilt down of exterior of Lebanon's central bank\u003cbr/\u003e              8. Letters on building (French) reading: \"Bank of Lebanon\" \u003cbr/\u003e              9. Economist Kamel Wazni walking\u003cbr/\u003e              10. SOUNDBITE (English) Kamel Wazni, economist:\u003cbr/\u003e              \"Nobody wants to harm the interests of Lebanon, the economic interests of Lebanon. And I think for a very long time, (those) who invested in Lebanon is not going to come and destroy everything that they did in term of relationships, in term of associations, and in term of credibility. Any miscalculation on that part will backfire on everyone.\"\u003cbr/\u003e              11. Pedestrians walking near exchange shop\u003cbr/\u003e              12. Close of sign (English/Arabic) reading: \"Exchange\"\u003cbr/\u003e              13. Exterior of bank building \u003cbr/\u003e              14. SOUNDBITE (English) Naseeb Ghabril, Chief economist at Byblos bank: \u003cbr/\u003e              \"I expect consumer confidence to be affected by this resignation, especially if it continues. Second, the taxes that the government imposed last year will become a heavier burden in 2018 than they already are, because of the economic slowdown and a decline in consumer confidence from the resignation.\"\u003cbr/\u003e              15. Close of hands\u003cbr/\u003e              16. SOUNDBITE (English) Naseeb Ghabril, Chief economist at Byblos bank: \u003cbr/\u003e              \"Certainly, another major impact is on the process of licensing, granting licenses for oil and gas exploration. The Ministry of Energy was planning to submit to the Council of Ministers the report about the bidding for licenses by the consortium that bid on two blocks. However, the Council of Ministers will not be able to take any decision in the current conditions.\"\u003cbr/\u003e              17. Close of eyes\u003cbr/\u003e              18. SOUNDBITE (English) Naseeb Ghabril, Chief economist at Byblos bank:\u003cbr/\u003e              \"I don't have any concern at all about the stability of the exchange rate. The banking sector is liquid. The Central Bank has enough foreign reserves to meet demand, and demand has been very acceptable so far, given the current circumstances.\"\u003cbr/\u003e              19. 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