Popular dishes are absent from the tables of the Lebanese in Ramadan due to the high cost, as the holy month of Ramadan begins for the fourth year in a row, in light of an economic crisis that has exhausted the Lebanese, and the World Bank has classified it among the three most severe crises in the world, since the mid-nineteenth century.
“The situation is very bad, especially with the rise in the dollar,” said Issam Rayes, a resident of Beirut. “You can’t buy anything here. We used to say we can eat bread and onions instead of meat, but the prices of onions and vegetables have also increased in an unprecedented way.”
Since the start of the economic and monetary crisis in Lebanon in October 2019 until March 2023, the exchange rate of the US dollar increased ninety-fold once morest the Lebanese pound on the black market, which was reflected in the prices of all commodities without exception on the eve of Ramadan.
For her part, Yasmine Kamel, also a resident of Beirut, says: “Ramadan is coming, but there will not be enough food on the table. What will people do with families? Can you prepare a plate of fattoush salad? You can’t.”
The prices of various commodities in Lebanon rise on a daily basis around the clock, and according to the updated food security figures issued by the World Bank in March 2023, Lebanon has recorded the second highest inflation rate in food prices around the world since last year, as a result of the rapid deterioration of economic conditions, and the remarkable decline In the exchange rate of the Lebanese pound once morest the US dollar.
