John Bitar
Class of 2027McLean, Virginia
About
Projects
- "How did the Lebanese dollar peg contribute to the nation’s financial collapse, and what can be done to reverse this in the present day?" with mentor Reid (Nov. 10, 2024)
Project Portfolio
How did the Lebanese dollar peg contribute to the nation’s financial collapse, and what can be done to reverse this in the present day?
Started June 21, 2024
Abstract or project description
This research project will focus on how the currency peg of the Lebanese Pound to the US Dollar served as a catalyst for the recent financial and banking collapse in Lebanon. We will examine the background history of Lebanon including pre- and post-Civil War, why the peg was implemented in the first place, how the peg initially helped to stabilize Lebanon's economy, why the peg eventually became detrimental to Lebanon's banking sector and overall economy, the Central Bank's role in maintaining the peg by taking on debt and using "financial engineering" to do so, the present-day situation of Lebanon and its economy post-2019, solutions proposed by experts to fix the "mess" created by the fixed exchange rate, and the solutions we recommend to fix Lebanon's economy in both the short and the long-term.