“I dare not say it …” The fishmonger in the supermarket in Beirut is ashamed of the price of the fish he sells. “But look at the price of a packet of butter, it has risen much faster.”
There is sighing and arguing. There are people in tears. Others come only to look around what is left, they have no money at all to buy anything. The weekly walk to the supermarket in Beirut is now quite a happening.
The corona crisis could not have come at a worse time for Lebanon. The country had just been declared bankrupt when this final blow fell. The lockdown has been going on for almost three months. There was a moment of relaxation, but it was quickly reversed.
Hoarding never stopped
Every day there is news about the umpteenth company that has been declared bankrupt. Prices are increasing day by day because the Lebanese pound is worth less and less. If you still have work, you work just as hard for just a fraction of your salary. The value of a pension has fallen by three-quarters. What was left of the Lebanese middle class is rapidly disappearing. I see it in the people around me.
Hoarding never really stopped here. This is a country where 85 percent of food products come from abroad and it is expected that there will be much less imported products soon.
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