The Lebanese crisis was ranked one of the three worst in history, according to the World Bank. In brief, it held the political class responsible for the deteriorating situation, and it stated that officials all convened to preserve the benefits provided through corruption. They also decided that no reforms would be implemented to help them get out of the mess. How did Dr. Layal Mansour, a Monetary and Financial Sciences Researcher, react to World Bank’s report?

“Economic forecasts are based on economic indicators, such as the standard of living, expenditures, spending, employment, trust, and several other factors,” Mansour told Sawt Beirut International’s reporter, Mahasen Morsal. “We determine the course based on these factors, and we conclude that the situation will continue in this manner, in the absence of a financial policy The World Bank study alludes to the persistence of this condition, i.e. the indifference of the authorities and politicians has left the country drowning without actual political, monetary, and financial involvement. Definitely, we will witness a worse situation, one that will be more impossible to address on our own.”

“Poverty indicators vary from one research to another, even from one source to another,” she pointed out. “The United Nations said three months ago that 50% of Lebanese people live in extreme poverty. However, the World Bank’s research shows that the percentage is even lower. The definition of poverty differs from one study onto another. In fact, all studies find these figures alarming, as there is a social crisis arising from the economic crisis, in which the rate of robberies and crime rises, and dealing with them consumes longer effort than dealing with the economic crisis.”

The World Bank has also blamed the Banque du Liban’s monetary policies and the seizure of depositors’ funds for the breakdown of the Lebanese pound, the devaluation of the national currency, the loss of purchasing power, high rates of inflation, poverty, and unemployment.