Cash-strapped Lebanon finds itself sitting on a gold mine, as precious metal prices surge

Описание: (6 Feb 2026)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Beirut - 2 February 2026
1. Various of woman inside gold shop negotiating with salesman
2. Man inside gold shop talking to saleswoman
3. Various of exterior of gold shops
4. Various of Sami Zoughaib speaking
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Sami Zoughaib, economist at Beirut-based think tank The Policy Initiative:
"We have 286 tons of gold, which basically are a bit more than 9 million ounces that in recent markets are valued at about $50 billion. And that is twice the size of Lebanon's GDP, so in terms of gold to GDP ratio, probably Lebanon ranks the highest in the world. And there has been a lot of conversation in Lebanon about the utilization, how should we use this gold? How should you use what essentially is the last remaining piece of public wealth that we have in the country. And there has been a push, a very strong push, to utilize that money in order to cover some of the banking sector losses.”
6. Various of couple buying gold
7. Close of gold pendants
8. Couple paying money for gold they bought
9. Various of man packing gold bars
10. Salesman handing gold to couple
11. Couple leaving store after buying gold
12. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ali al-Shab, gold shop salesman:
“We’re having more customers buying gold ounces and gold coins mostly, and we’re starting with silver now, most customers used to buy gold bracelets, that kind of thing. Now, the desire is for ounces and coins, they’re buying them as an investment. Customers are now following gold prices as well, they know them faster than I do.”
13. Various of gold shop salesman organizing gold in shop's window
14. Various of salesman holding gold bar
15. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Alia Shehade, Beirut resident and shopper:
“Gold is nice, it’s adornment and treasure. A woman can use it as a way to save her money for a crises, if she’s in a tough situation or if she gets ill of falls into hardship she can sell her gold. And when gold prices go up, then she’s the winner.”
16. Gold shop window
17. Various of gold shop salesman talking to customers
18. Salesman arranging gold jewelry in shop window
19. SOUNDBITE (English) Sami Zoughaib, economist at Beirut-based think tank The Policy Initiative:
“Generally, countries that go through crises and have a history of crisis such as Lebanon tend to go place more money into hedges. Gold is one of those hedges that have been there historically, and so there has always been this propensity for the Lebanese people to go buy up gold in order to hedge against possible inflation, because this is a country that has seen multiple episodes of hyperinflation during its history. So there's this element of, it's expected of you not to keep all your money in cash, not to keep all your money in a certain type of asset, but also go to gold as a sort of a safe haven of sorts.”
20. Various of gold shop salesman organizing gold in shop's window
21. Women looking at gold shop window
STORYLINE:
Tiny Lebanon sits on one of the largest gold reserves in the Middle East and its government is weighing whether it can use that stockpile to restore a crippled economy while its citizens are looking at gold as a way to revive their battered finances.

Lebanon’s economy hobbled into 2026, with ongoing inflation and state decay and no reforms to combat corruption in sight.

Its banks collapsed in late 2019 in a crippling fiscal crisis that evaporated depositors’ savings and plunged about half its population of 6.5 million into poverty, after decades of rampant corruption, waste, and mismanagement.

































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