Summary
Karim Daya was one of the last of his friends and family still in Lebanon.
With 37 percent of Lebanon's youth already unemployed, the prospects are bleak.
Across Lebanon, banks are closed and business is grinding to a halt.
The firm is down to 70 staff, from a peak of 425 people before 2016 .
Banks, which closed for half of October, have blocked most dollar withdrawals and transfers abroad to avoid capital flight.
The hard currency squeeze in turn has stymied trade, pushed people to stash cash at home, and pressured the Lebanese pound's 22-year-old peg to the dollar.
Business owners say they must make most transactions in cash on the black market, where the pound has weakened to about 20 percent below the pegged rate.
Lebanon creates six times fewer jobs than its labor market needs and exports more graduates than any country in the Arab world, a 2019 government study said.
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