Lebanon in Crisis

 Will Lebanon follow a similar collapse as Sri Lanka?

Since 2019, the monthly minimum wage has sunk from the equivalent of $450 to $24 at last week’s exchange rate due to the currency collapsing with the devaluation of the Lebanese lira. It has led to workers striking. The International Labor Organization (ILO)  estimates that nearly 100 percent of public sector employees are now engaged in permanent or intermittent work stoppages as salaries are no longer sufficient for employees to get to work, let alone support their families. Many workers are barely capable of securing their basic necessities. Lebanon's poverty rate now rises to over 74 percent, according to the World Bank. Nearly 2.2 million people from Lebanon are in dire need of food security. One-third of the population in the country is unemployed, and half of the young people out of work.  Lebanon's GDP halved, from $52 billion in 2019 to $21.8 billion in 2021

The Lebanese government launched last year two cash aid programs for needy families, namely the Emergency Social Safety Net and the ration card policy, both funded by the World Bank. Lebanon said in January that about 50 percent of its population has registered for social assistance through the social safety net financing plan funded by the World Bank, under the latter's loan of 246 million dollars. Lebanon also hoped to secure another World Bank loan in support of its ration card policy that aims to pay 556 million dollars in cash to the most vulnerable population.

A  humanitarian crisis is looming. The shortage of food grains and fuels on the international level is making the situation in Lebanon more dangerous. The United Nations warned that food scarcity and malnutrition in Lebanon would intensify further in the coming times. Najat Rochdi, the UN special representative for Lebanon expressed concern that the food grain and fuel shortages developing worldwide because of the Ukraine conflict are critically affecting the country. Rochdi warned that almost two-thirds of this population could higher hunger levels.

Situation in Lebanon is dangerous, warns United Nations - (newscast-pratyaksha.com)