Lebanon’s parliament on Friday approved a $246 million loan from the World Bank that would provide cash assistance to more than 160,000 families in the small country hit by an unprecedented economic crisis and the coronavirus pandemic.

The approval came as the local currency hit a new high on the black market, trading at 11,150 Lebanese pounds to the dollar. The new accident triggered immediate protests, mainly in the north of the country.

A day earlier, France warned that Lebanon was running out of time before total collapse, blaming bickering politicians who for months have been unable to agree on a new government even as Lebanon slides into the economic and financial abyss. Last week protesters closed roads across the country with burning tires for a week after the dollar hit 10,000 pounds on the black market for the first time. Currency collapse pushes more people into poverty as their purchasing power declines.

The currency crash will affect recipients of World Bank money, as the money will be distributed to 161,257 families – or about 800,000 people – in Lebanese pounds. Each of the families will receive 800,000 pounds per month for a year, according to the agreement with the World Bank which calculates the dollar at 6,240 pounds.

Since the beginning of the economic and financial crisis in Lebanon at the end of 2019, there have been various exchange rates for the dollar in this highly indebted country, including the official rate of around 1,500 pounds for one dollar, the market rate black and a cash withdrawal rate from US dollar accounts at local banks, with at 3,900 pounds for $1.

Using the 6,240 pounds to the dollar rate to help poor families means they are wronged, getting around 62% of what they would get on the black market rate.

Lawyer and anti-corruption campaigner Nizar Saghieh has denounced it as another tax on the poor. “It is imposed not on the richest but on the poorest,” he wrote. The economic crisis has led to a projected 19.2% drop in gross domestic product, triple-digit inflation and pushes 1.7 million people below the poverty line. Some 22% of the population is expected to fall into extreme poverty.

Lebanon has 6 million inhabitants, including one million Syrian refugees.

International donors have said they will not grant financial aid to Lebanon until major reforms are implemented to tackle corruption, which has brought the small Arab country to the brink of bankruptcy. The deepening crisis has depleted Lebanon’s foreign exchange reserves dependent on imports and raised fears that the Central Bank will end subsidies for some commodities. According to a World Bank statement in January, the bulk of the loan – nearly $200 million – will be used to provide cash assistance to around 786,000 people via a prepaid electronic card. The loan also includes school fees for some 87,000 children between the ages of 13 and 18. It will also help Lebanon develop a social registry to determine who needs help in the future.

Parliament also passed another law, granting $5.5 million of another World Bank loan to small and medium-sized businesses. Meanwhile, on Friday, hundreds of people marched in Beirut demanding a transitional government that would work to get Lebanon out of its crisis.

Lebanon’s government resigned in August following a massive explosion at the port of Beirut that killed 211 people, injured more than 6,000 and damaged entire neighborhoods of the capital.

Disagreements between President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri have so far delayed the formation of a government. Hariri was chosen for the job in October.

(This story has not been edited by the Devdiscourse team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)