Lebanon Slips into More Economic Insecurity as Supermarkets Price in Dollars

Shops and supermarkets across Lebanon started to display the rate-to-the-dollar at which goods are priced. The move was announced earlier by Economy Minister Amin Salam, who admitted on Tuesday admitted his department can do little to stop the country’s steep financial decline.

Salam said the measure was introduced to guard against rampant price manipulation, as the national currency continues to plummet in value, sometimes by the minute.

The minister said that shops must make the move due to the rapid swings in the value of the Lebanese pound which meant some were repricing goods several times each day.

Salam noted that latest measure is not a solution but could at least mitigate some of the effects of the currency fluctuations by regulating prices to prevent profiteering.

The minister highlighted the lack of solutions to stem the free-falling Lebanese currency and the corresponding economic crisis.

“The financial regime is over. It’s done,” Salam said. “Now we leave the currency to its fate.”

Pound Falls to Historic Low

Meanwhile, the Lebanese Pound dropped to a record low, trading at 88,000 LBP per USD on the black market by Wednesday afternoon, exchange dealers reported.

local currency has lost more than 98% of its value since its economic collapse began in 2019. According to the United Nations, 80 percent of the Lebanon’s population lives now below the poverty line.

Furthermore, the depreciation on Wednesday has translated into a surge in fuel, with the price of a canister of 95-octane gasoline reaching 1,617,000 pounds, according to price list which was issued by the fuel distributors.

The price of Diesel canister reached 1,538,000 pounds, while the price of gas cylinder was at 1,084,000 pounds, National News Agency reported.

Import Tariffs Hike

On the other hand, the caretaker government in Lebanon will impose a threefold increase on tariffs it charges on imports in local currency, according to copies of government decisions seen by Reuters news agency on Tuesday.

Caretaker finance minister Youssef Khalil requested to change the rate at which customs fees are calculated from 15,000 pounds per U.S. dollar to 45,000 pounds, according to Reuters.

Cabinet responded with a letter saying it had no objections given the move would “secure additional revenues to help revive the public sector”.

The government had already effectively increased tariffs on imported goods about 10-fold at the end of last year by changing the rate at which they were calculated to 15,000 per U.S. dollar from the then-official rate of 1,507.5.