Most eyes on the Middle East are watching Iran and potential conflict. However, with the announcement of Lebanon’s new government in the face of recent protests, some focus has shifted back to Lebanon.
Most questions concern Lebanon’s new leadership and its political implications, but Pierre Houssney of Horizons International says there’s something else to consider; how is Lebanon’s economic situation affecting regular citizens?
Lebanon has access to economic prosperity, but Houssney says it’s mostly concentrated in a mega-rich upper class. That means “working class people are living on a really, really tight margin because…the living expenses in the country are very high, on par with [or] even above some places in the US.”
The working or middle class faces tight budgets in the face of increasing costs of living. That means they don’t have the same access to education for themselves or their children, basic living expenses, or streams of income they once held.
Houssney says some people are even receiving only 50% of their salaries on a monthly basis. What’s more, some local banks won’t let them withdraw any cash. Some banks have even been accused of selling dollars to money changers on the street to make a profit, giving their customers Lebanese currency as a major decrease.
Couple that with 30-40% prince increases on essentials such as groceries and you have a recipe for intense economic stress.
SOURCE: Mission Network News, Alex Anhalt
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