Economic crisis, severe shortages make Lebanon 'unlivable'

By BASSEM MROUE Associated Press

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon is struggling amid a 20-month-old economic and financial crisis that has led to shortages of fuel and basic goods like baby formula, medicine and spare parts.

Motorists wait in long lines for gasoline, and power is frequently cut for hours each day to conserve fuel for generators.

The Lebanese pound has nose-dived, banks have clamped down on withdrawals and transfers, and hyperinflation has flared.

The crisis is rooted in decades of corruption and mismanagement by a post-civil war political class that has accumulated debt and done little to encourage local industries, forcing the country to rely on imports for almost everything.