The year 2022 witnessed an unprecedented decline in the exchange rates of a number of national currencies in some Middle Eastern countries, most notably Egypt, Türkiye, Sudan and Iraq. The value of some of the region’s currencies fell against the US dollar, while others saw very sharp deteriorations, as is the case of the Iranian rial and the Lebanese pound.
Despite the diversity of the reasons that led to these declines, including political and economic conditions, and the monetary policy of central banks, a number of common factors contributed to this situation, mainly the continuous and accelerated rise in interest rates and mounting inflation, as well as political tensions and black market speculations and manipulations.
