- Title: As Lebanon reforms go slowly, Lebanese wait and reel
- Date: 3rd October 2019
- Summary: BEIRUT, LEBANON (OCTOBER 1, 2019) (REUTERS) TRAFFIC DRIVING PAST GARBAGE CONTAINERS IN WHICH ONE MAN IS RUMMAGING THROUGH VARIOUS OF MAN RUMMAGING THROUGH GARBAGE BAGS / TRAFFIC DRIVING BY BEIRUT, LEBANON (OCTOBER 2, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MAN SITTING BY ROAD SIDE AND READING NEWSPAPER BEIRUT, LEBANON (OCTOBER 1, 2019) (REUTERS) POLICEMAN DIRECTING TRAFFIC (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) LEBANESE TAXI DRIVER, WADIH HANNA, SAYING: (SOUNDBITE ENDS ON STEERING WHEEL AND TRAFFIC ON THE ROAD) "There is no work at all. Today, we have only worked for 20,000 Lebanese Liras ($13.25) all day- not worth the gas. How should we feed our families? How should we work? How should we act in this country? I don't know. The situation is very, very tragic." HANNA SMOKING CIGARETTE WHILE DRIVING CAR DRIVING ON HIGHWAY (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) LEBANESE TAXI DRIVER, WADIH HANNA, SAYING: "It's a shame what is happening to this profession, and the economy situation is zero by the floor." MORE OF HANNA'S HAND ON STEERING WHEEL WHILE DRIVING HANNA DRIVING AS SEEN FROM CAR'S MIRROR TAXI SEEN IN TRAFFIC VARIOUS OF TRAFFIC ON HIGHWAY WITH BEIRUT PORT IN BACKGROUND PEOPLE IN STREET EXTERIOR OF GROCERY SHOP GROCERY SHOP EMPLOYEE, ADEEBA BAZZ, INSIDE SHOP / COMMENT IN BACKGROUND HEARING (Arabic): "He is coming to get paid in dollars, what would I do with him? Where do I get him dollars from?" ITEMS ON DISPLAY (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) GROCERY SHOP EMPLOYEE, ADEEBA BAZZ, SAYING: "This time, it is hard for it (the situation) to pass, we will fade, because it is too much this time. Wars passed and we rose each time, no there is no one to bring the country back up anymore. Everyone is broke, everyone is hungry, there is no money in the country anymore. Where are we heading? We should ask those we elected." PEOPLE WALKING ON SIDE WALK COOK PREPARING SHAWARMA CARS DRIVING PAST GAS STATION (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) GAS STATION OWNER, ANTOINE BASSIL, SAYING: "The economic situation in the country affected us a lot. The goods are here, but the dollar affected us and the customer can't buy what he wants anymore, he buys for his daily use - for example (filling gas) for 10,000 or 15,000 Lebanese Liras ($6.6 - $10). You can no longer find a customer coming to fill it all for $100." VARIOUS OF GAS STATION EMPLOYEE FILLING UP CAR FUEL DISPENSER COUNTER (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) GAS STATION OWNER, ANTOINE BASSIL, SAYING: "From 1964 during the time of my father, may he rest in peace, it was different. Even war times were better than now. Now, it is deteriorating: 2018, 2019 we see it even worse and maybe 2020 also the same, because the situation is just imposed on us." BEIRUT, LEBANON (OCTOBER 2, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF TRAFFIC BEIRUT, LEBANON (OCTOBER 1, 2019) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF EXCHANGE SHOP SIGN READING (English/Arabic): "Exchange" VARIOUS OF MAN COUNTING LEBANESE LIRAS NOTES OF 50,000 L.L. MONEY COUNTER COUNTING U.S. DOLLARS NOTES MONEY COUNTER SCREEN VARIOUS OF MONEY COUNTER COUNTING LEBANESE LIRAS NOTES OF 50,000 L.L.
- Embargoed: 17th October 2019 15:01
- Keywords: economy reforms banks currency people markets Lebanon exchange central bank
- Location: BEIRUT, LEBANON
- City: BEIRUT, LEBANON
- Country: Lebanon
- Topics: Living / Lifestyle,Society/Social Issues
- Reuters ID: LVA001AZJMMVP
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Lebanon's economic problems have been building for years, but people in the streets of Beirut say they now feel the burden more than ever. The government has declared "an economic emergency" and vowed to enact long-delayed reforms to rein in spending.
One man was seen rummaging through garbage dumpsters and another homeless elderly man was reading the day's newspapers on the road, while Lebanese taxi driver Walid Hanna searched for passengers which he says he now rarely finds.
"There is no work at all... How should we feed our families? How should we work? How should we act in this country? I don't know. The situation is very, very tragic," Hanna said with sorrow as he smoked a cigarette, driving through the greater Beirut area.
Shattered by war between 1975 and 1990, Lebanon has one of the world's highest debt burdens as a share of its economy. Economic growth has been hit by regional conflict and instability. Unemployment for the under 35s runs at 37%. The balance of payments has been negative for years, meaning more money leaves the country than enters it.
For Adeeba Bazz, who works at a 50-year-old grocery shop, the situation is different this time and harder to endure.
"Wars passed and we rose again each time, now there's no one to bring the country back up anymore. Everyone is broke, everyone is hungry, there is no money in the country anymore. Where are we heading? We should ask those we elected," Bazz added.
The kind of steps needed to fix the national finances have long proven elusive. Sectarian politicians, many of them civil war veterans, have long used state resources for their own political benefit and are reluctant to cede prerogatives. Many of them are millionaires. Some are billionaires.
Lebanon ranked 138 of 180 countries in Transparency International's 2018 corruption perceptions index.
Lebanon's pound has been pegged at 1,507.5 pounds to the dollar for more than 20 years but the price has recently risen above that level on the unofficial, or parallel, market, reflecting an economic crisis stemming from low growth and slowing capital inflows.
The government has vowed to maintain the peg.
The central bank took steps on Tuesday (October 1) to provide banks with U.S. dollars to back imports of fuel, wheat and medicine.
Some importers have threatened to strike because they cannot secure dollars at the official rate from banks and are being forced to pay more on the parallel market.
Central bank governor Riad Salameh said on Thursday (October 3) there had always been some difference between the official peg and money exchangers' rates and that the central bank would preserve the stability of the official rate.
Gas station owner Antoine Bassil has described how the economic situation has affected his business, referring to the dollars cost as well as a difference he noticed in customers' behaviour who now spend less than they used to.
"Even war times were better than now," said Bassil, who manages the gas station. He inherited it from his father who had run the station since it opened in 1964.
Earlier on Sunday, protests flared in the country over the deteriorating economic conditions.
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