The Lebanese are currently subjected to depreciation, with the ever-rising prices of goods and services, self-imposed limits on withdrawals by banks at a rate of LBP 3,900 to the dollar, and a local currency estimated at LBP 9,600 to the dollar as at March 1st 2021. Rampant inflation was estimated at 84.8 percent for the full year 2020 according to the Central Statistics Department, with end-of-year inflation from December 2019 to December 2020 estimated at 14.8 percent. Additionally, any release of controls for withdrawals in LBP would result in added inflation due to an expansion of the monetary mass and a rush to buy USD currency at black market rates. The depreciation of the currency reflects, in part, a loss of confidence in the national currency, and a flight to safer cash currencies on the black market. In light of this situation, some financial experts have recommended the establishment of
