The Lebanese pound has been pegged to the U.S. dollar at a rate of 1,507.5 LBP per USD since 1997. In August 2019, due to various financial hardships, especially the growing probability that the Lebanese government will default on maturing debt obligations, a parallel exchange rate started forming and diverging from the official exchange rate. In the fall of 2019, the parallel exchange rate reached 1,600 LBP per USD, and would later increase to 3,000 LBP per USD in April 2020.[1][2] The USD parallel exchange rate continues to increase due to devaluation of the Lebanese Pound caused by acute USD shortages within Lebanon.[3] This dollar shortage also caused 785 restaurants and cafes to close between September 2019 and February 2020 and resulted in 25,000 employees losing their jobs.[4][5] This economic crisis made Lebanon's gross domestic product fall to about $44 billion, which was about $55 billion the year before.[6]