Lebanese cling to hope amid Ramadan austerity

Lebanese cling to hope amid Ramadan austerity
Families in Lebanon to look for alternatives and less expensive goods amid skyrocketing prices as the country’s currency plunged against the dollar. (File/AFP)
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Updated 23 March 2023

Lebanese cling to hope amid Ramadan austerity

Lebanese cling to hope amid Ramadan austerity
  • The price of food, vegetables and meat skyrocketed a month before Ramadan
  • Unemployment rates are rising amid the rapid financial collapse

BEIRUT: The streets of Beirut have been modestly decorated for Ramadan, reflecting the austere measures adopted by Lebanon’s Islamic associations and authorities amid the country’s worsening economic crisis. 

Beirut Gov. Marwan Abboud said: “In an attempt to spread joy during the month of Ramadan, the cost of decoration and electricity for lights was covered by donors who provided solar power panels for the electricity polls due to the difficulties we are facing.”

The price of food, vegetables and meat skyrocketed a month before Ramadan as the country’s currency plunged against the dollar, forcing families to look for alternatives and less expensive goods. 

Unemployment rates are rising amid the rapid financial collapse, while the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia estimates that up to 82 percent of the population is facing poverty.

Fattoush salad, a staple iftar item during Ramadan, now costs around 225,000 Lebanese pounds ($14.99) compared with 4,250 Lebanese pounds two years ago. 

Rami Ghalayini, owner of a Beirut juice shop, said that a bottle of juice remains essential during Ramadan meals after a long day of fasting. However, a one-liter bottle of fresh orange juice now costs more than 100,000 Lebanese pounds, three times the price last year.

Despite the rapidly rising cost of essential items, employees continue to receive salaries based on the old exchange rate of 1,507 Lebanese pounds to the dollar. 

Jad, who works at a cooperative, said: “My wife and I do not know if we will be able to provide a daily dish. The prices of food items are increasing by the minute. They are being priced based on an exchange rate higher than that of the black market, while our salaries remain the same and their value decreases.

“I have to think of other essentials that need to be paid, such as the electricity generator bill, water, and medication if one of my children needs it.”

Fatima, a housewife, said that she used to welcome Ramadan by decorating the house, and buying luxury dates, walnuts, almonds and raisins.

“But this year, I find myself unable to buy these non-essential snacks. I even need some help, as my husband’s and son’s salaries are no longer enough to pay for the food. These are some of the hardest days we have had to endure, but, God willing, we will be able to fast and provide iftar meals as best as we can.”

Nada Bakkar is carefully using her husband’s meager salary to buy goods and supplies for Ramadan. 

Bakkar said that she spent more than 5 million Lebanese pounds buying basics, such as rice, oil, herbs and sugar.

“I have not bought meat, chicken and dairy products yet, and their prices have surged to record levels,” she added.

“The merchants are messing with the prices with nobody there to monitor them. I am very worried that I might not be able to provide enough food to feed my family and prepare a main dish every day.”

People are trying to remain optimistic. Nada Katoua believes that “Ramadan comes with blessings. I know people’s incomes have decreased and many families are no longer able to secure their daily bread. However, we should always welcome the month of goodness with hope.”

Last year, the Lebanese Ministry of Social Affairs launched the “Aman” program to support the poorest 150,000 Lebanese families. However, the scheme, which relied on a $246 million World Bank loan, has yet to be fully implemented. 

The ministry is waiting to receive a $300 million World Bank loan to “support the groups facing unprecedented levels of poverty,” according to Farid Belhaj, World Bank vice president for the Middle East and North Africa.

The Sidon Merchants Association set up decorations in the city’s commercial markets, which are popular with people from various regions during Ramadan.

Ali Al-Sharif, the association’s head, said: “We want to give people a glimmer of hope, as the month of Ramadan arrives amid a worsening economic crisis, the repercussions of which are directly affecting everyone. 

“Basic government services are continuing to deteriorate and people’s businesses are at a halt. Expats are the only ones providing this country with some sort of lifeline, thanks to the money they are transferring to their families to ensure their survival.”


Egypt population reaches 105m

Egypt population reaches 105m
Updated 33 min 51 sec ago

Egypt population reaches 105m

Egypt population reaches 105m
  • On Oct. 1, 2022, the database put the population at 104 million
  • Increase of 1 million in 245 days — eight months and five days

Cairo: Egypt’s population reached 105 million on Saturday, according to the population clock linked to the government’s birth and death registration database.

On Oct. 1, 2022, the database put the population at 104 million, meaning that there has been an increase of 1 million in 245 days — eight months and five days.

“The increase of 1 million people in eight months is deeply concerning. This level of population growth presents a formidable challenge and a hindrance for the Egyptian state as it disrupts the path to development,” Fatima Mahmoud, a specialist at the Demographic Center in Cairo, told Arab News.

Mahmoud emphasized the government’s strong intent to manage population growth, highlighting that it significantly strains the state’s resources and budget.

“While the increase is indeed alarming, the situation isn’t entirely bleak. An analysis of the data on the difference in birth and death rates reveals that the recent increase of 1 million was reached in 245 days.

“Comparatively, the prior million increase was achieved in just 221 days, nearly 24 days (fewer). This indicates a noticeable decline in birth rates, a positive trend that should be supported by the government,” she said.

“Aid packages should be granted to families with two children, while community assistance should be withheld for those with more than two children. The government must innovate beyond conventional means to effectively control population growth as it poses a substantial threat to development,” Mahmoud added.

Meanwhile, the latest report from the Maat Foundation, which specializes in community studies, said that Egypt’s population growth “negatively impacts” the country’s ability to achieve sustainable development.

It explained: “The economic consequences of population increase include higher consumption among individuals, increased state expenditures on services, widespread unemployment, reduced wages in both public and private sectors, rising housing prices, urban expansion onto agricultural lands, deterioration of public facilities, and inflated allocations of public spending on essential services such as education, health, transportation, housing, social protection, and security.

“All these effects are unfortunately at the expense of capital expenditure on developmental projects in primary productive sectors like agriculture and the transformative industry.”

However, Dr. Alia Al-Mahdi, a professor at the faculty of economics and political science at Cairo University, argued that population increase “is not necessarily a barrier to economic development.”

She said: “A large population can become a positive factor for achieving growth and economic development if the state effectively utilizes the human resources, as demonstrated in countries like India and China, each with a population exceeding 1 billion.”

Al-Mahdi added: “Economic decline, deterioration, and sluggish growth rates are usually the catalysts for increased population growth. Conversely, population growth rates decrease when the economy is performing well and incomes are rising. This is reflected in citizens’ growing desire to enhance their quality of life, consequently reducing the birth rate.”


Tunisian FM hails Italy’s support over IMF loan

Tunisian FM hails Italy’s support over IMF loan
Updated 03 June 2023

Tunisian FM hails Italy’s support over IMF loan

Tunisian FM hails Italy’s support over IMF loan
  • International Monetary Fund seeks govt reforms but Rome backs disbursement ‘without preconditions’
  • Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to pay official visit to North African country next week

ROME: Tunisia’s foreign minister has hailed “Italy’s clear understanding of the … need to support the … economic recovery underway” in his country.

Nabil Ammar was speaking on Friday night at a ceremony in the residence of Italy’s ambassador in Tunis on the occasion of Italy’s National Day. The event was attended by representatives of Tunisia’s government and business community.

Ammar thanked Italy for all its efforts to explain Tunisia’s viewpoint to other countries regarding negotiations for a loan of nearly $1.9 billion from the International Monetary Fund.

The IMF requires Tunisia’s government to carry out a series of reforms before giving the loan. However, Tunisia is asking for a first tranche of funding to be released immediately by the IMF, while the rest of the loan can be paid in line with the progress of reforms.

Ammar described Italy’s backing of Tunisia on this point as “intelligent and constructive.” He recalled that Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni urged the IMF at last month’s G7 Summit to adopt a “practical” approach to disbursing funds to Tunisia “without preconditions.”

Ammar stressed that the challenges facing all Mediterranean countries and others worldwide on migration “go beyond the capacities of individual states and require all of us to raise solidarity to the level of a fundamental value more quickly than ever before.”

He expressed his hope that the proposal by Tunisian President Kais Saied to organize a regional conference on migration will be accepted “so that this phenomenon can be effectively tackled in a way that takes account of the humanitarian dimension.”

Saied made the proposal during his meeting in Tunis with Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi on May 15.

Meloni and Saied on Friday night discussed bilateral relations during a phone call. According to a press release by Meloni’s office, she accepted Saied’s invitation to pay an official visit to Tunisia next week.


180 dead from Sudan fighting buried unidentified: Red Crescent

180 dead from Sudan fighting buried unidentified: Red Crescent
Updated 03 June 2023

180 dead from Sudan fighting buried unidentified: Red Crescent

180 dead from Sudan fighting buried unidentified: Red Crescent
  • Volunteers have buried 102 unidentified bodies in the capital’s Al-Shegilab cemetery and 78 more in cemeteries in Darfur

KHARTOUM: Persistent fighting in Sudan’s twin flashpoints of Khartoum and Darfur has forced volunteers to bury 180 bodies recovered from combat zones without identification, the Sudanese Red Crescent said.
Since fighting between Sudan’s warring generals erupted on April 15, volunteers have buried 102 unidentified bodies in the capital’s Al-Shegilab cemetery and 78 more in cemeteries in Darfur, the Red Crescent said in a statement Friday.
Both regular army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and his deputy-turned-rival, paramilitary commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, have issued repeated pledges to protect civilians and secure humanitarian corridors.
But Red Crescent volunteers — supported by the International Committee of the Red Cross — have found it difficult to move through the streets to pick up the dead, “due to security constraints,” the Red Crescent said.
In cease-fire talks in Saudi Arabia last month, the warring parties had agreed to “enable responsible humanitarian actors, such as the Sudanese Red Crescent and/or the International Committee of the Red Cross to collect, register and bury the deceased in coordination with competent authorities.”
But amid repeated and flagrant violations by both sides, the US- and Saudi-brokered truce agreement collapsed.
Entire districts of the capital no longer have running water, electricity is only available for a few hours a week and three quarters of hospitals in combat zones are not functioning.
The situation is particularly dire in the western region of Darfur, which is home to around a quarter of Sudan’s population and has never recovered from a devastating two-decade war that left hundreds of thousands dead and more than two million displaced.
Hundreds of civilians have been killed, villages and markets torched and aid facilities looted, prompting tens of thousands to seek refuge in neighboring Chad.
More than 1,800 people have been killed in the fighting, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project.
Medics and aid agencies have said repeatedly that the real death toll is likely to be much higher, because of the number of bodies abandoned in areas that are unreachable.


Three Israeli soldiers, Egyptian officer killed in border gunfire incident

Three Israeli soldiers, Egyptian officer killed in border gunfire incident
Updated 32 min 11 sec ago

Three Israeli soldiers, Egyptian officer killed in border gunfire incident

Three Israeli soldiers, Egyptian officer killed in border gunfire incident
  • Egypt confirms security force member killed in Israel border shooting while "chasing a drug smuggler"
  • The exchange of fire reportedly took place around the Nitzana border crossing between Israel and Egypt
  • Egypt and Israel coordinating on border incident; fighting along their shared border is rare

JERUSALEM: Three Israeli soldiers and an Egyptian security officer were killed near the countries’ border on Saturday, Israel and Egypt said, in a rare incident that the countries said they are investigating jointly.
The Israeli military said an Egyptian policeman shot and killed two soldiers while they secured a military post at the Egyptian border early on Saturday. It said the officer and a third Israeli soldier were killed in a confrontation inside Israeli territory hours later.
Egypt’s military said that the three Israeli and one Egyptian security personnel had been killed in an exchange of fire as the Egyptian security officer chased smugglers across the frontier.
Egyptian and Israeli officials are probing the circumstances of the incident in full cooperation, the Israeli military and two Egyptian security sources said.
The Israeli military said it was unclear how the Egyptian officer crossed the border fence and soldiers were searching the area to rule out additional assailants.
An Israeli military spokesperson said two soldiers had been shot while on duty in a relatively desolate area in the Negev desert along the Egypt border early on Saturday. Their bodies were found later, when they didn’t answer the radio, the spokesperson added.
Once the military understood the incident was ongoing, soldiers identified an infiltration into Israeli territory, leading to a gunfight in which the assailant, an Egyptian policeman, and the third Israeli soldier were killed, it said.
Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said he conducted a situational assessment with the chief of staff and that the military “will investigate the event as required.”
Egypt in 1979 became the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel.
The Israeli military spokesperson said that while drug smuggling attempts in the area were frequent, the last known infiltration into Israel happened some 10 years ago.


UN agency for Palestinian refugees raises just a third of $300m needed to help millions

UN agency for Palestinian refugees raises just a third of $300m needed to help millions
Updated 03 June 2023

UN agency for Palestinian refugees raises just a third of $300m needed to help millions

UN agency for Palestinian refugees raises just a third of $300m needed to help millions
  • UNRWA chief grateful for the new pledges but they are below the funds needed to keep over 700 schools and 140 clinics open from September through December

UNITED NATIONS: Despite a dire warning from the UN chief that the UN agency for Palestinian refugees “is on the verge of financial collapse,” donors at a pledging conference on Friday provided just $107 million in new funds — significantly less than the $300 million it needs to keep helping millions of people.
Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner general of the agency known as UNRWA, said he was grateful for the new pledges but they are below the funds needed to keep over 700 schools and 140 clinics open from September through December.
“We will continue to work tirelessly with our partners, including host countries — the refugees’ top supporters — to raise the funds needed,” he said in a statement.
At the beginning of the year, UNRWA appealed for $1.6 billion for its programs, operations and emergency response across Syria, Lebanon, the Israeli-occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip and Jordan. That includes nearly $850 million for its core budget, which includes running schools and health clinics.
According to UNRWA, donors on Friday announced $812.3 million in pledges, but just $107.2 million were new contributions. The countries pledging new funds were not announced.
Lazzarini told a press conference Thursday that UNRWA needs $150 million to keep all services running until the end of the year, and an additional $50 million to start 2024 without liabilities. In addition, he said, the agency needs $75 million to keep the food pipeline in Gaza operating and about $30 million for its cash distribution program in Syria and Lebanon.
UNRWA was founded in the wake of the creation of the state of Israel in 1948 to provide hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who fled or were forced from their homes with education, health care, social services and in some cases jobs. Today, their numbers — with descendants — have grown to some 5.9 million people, most in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, as well as neighboring countries in the Middle East.
UNRWA has faced a financial crisis for 10 years, but Lazzarini said the current crisis is “massive,” calling it “our main existential threat.”
“It is deepening, and our ability to muddle through is slowly but surely coming to an end,” he said. “The situation is even more critical now that some of our committed donors have indicated that the will substantially decrease their contribution to the agency.”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a speech read by his chief of staff at the start of the pledging conference that “when UNRWA’s future hangs in the balance so do the lives of millions of Palestine refugees relying on essential services.”
Those services include education for over half a million girls and boys, health care for around 2 million people, job opportunities for young people in Gaza and elsewhere, psycho-social support for hundreds of thousands of children, and a social safety net for nearly half a million of the poorest Palestinians, he said. More than 1.2 million Palestinians also receive humanitarian assistance.