A suffocating economic crisis has left Lebanon’s poor with little or no means to cope with extra hardship. Two weeks into Lebanon’s lockdown, there are growing signs of desperation.
Six months before the virus outbreak, Lebanon’s long-brewing economic problems came to a head as capital inflows slowed and big protests erupted against the ruling elite. The currency has sunk and unemployment and inflation have soared.
The heavily-indebted state, which defaulted in March, is poorly placed to help the poor.
“People are getting really desperate,” said Maya Terro, chief executive of FoodBlessed, “From 50 to 100 calls per day, we are now receiving calls in the thousands.”
In the last two weeks, FoodBlessed has doubled weekly distributions to 200 parcels, each with enough lentils, rice, oil, sugar and other staples for 150 meals.
With a population of about 6 million, including 1 million Syrian refugees, Lebanon had recorded 479 Coronavirus cases and 12 deaths, as of Wednesday.
Before the Coronavirus outbreak, the World Bank projected 40% of people would be in poverty by the end of 2020, a forecast Economy Minister Raoul Nehme believes is now outdated.
“It will accelerate the trend. We might very well reach a peak higher than 40% before we go down,” Nehme declared.
“I am very concerned and unfortunately our means are very limited,” he said, adding many people were only just getting by day to day before but have now lost even that daily income.
The government will offer the poorest 400,000 Lebanese pounds, about $150 at the black market exchange rate.
