With the price hikes and lack of food products, we might be on the edge of not being able to purchase or most basic items. Is our food security at risk?
Sawt Beirut International reporter Mahasen Morsel asked the head of the syndicate of the food products importers Hany Bohsali who explained that “the real problem is chiefly caused by on the ongoing political crisis resulting in the scarcity in dollar availability and its inflated rate. Ever since the beginning of the crisis in 2019 the exchange rate has been the talk of the town.”
Bohsali added that even if the products are locally produced, manufacturers still need foreign basic material which means that all prices are linked to the exchange rate.”
“Food security is a big deal, we always call for preserving it. And when we say that more than half of the Lebanese are below the poverty line, it is something tangible from our daily life. What is actually happening is that prices soared while the individual income remained the same, and the higher the exchange rate gets the deeper the problem becomes,” Bohsali added.
“Despite the lack of the greenback, products are available. But when the exchange rate surpasses LL6,000 to the dollar, the question became what will we gain if we bought all those products and filled the shelved while the Lebanese are not able to purchase them? And there is no doubt that there is a strategy of repositioning of some brands by international leading companies all over the world in order to introduce new products more fit for Lebanon,” he said.
“The world sees us on the list of states suffering from high inflation and on the bottom of the poverty list, and that is our sad reality. The Lebanese people is the victim of certain policies and local, regional and international circumstances.”
The worse is yet to come according to indications, however, does any official still have the decency to stop this free-fall collapse?