Lebanon recorded a dramatic increase in inflation rates last July, amid the continuing financial collapse and the absence of prospects for a solution.
The data released by the Central Statistics Department revealed that consumer prices rose by 112.4 percent in July on an annual basis, compared to less than 90 percent in June. The month-on-month rise was 11.42 percent in July.
According to Bloomberg, rates of price growth have risen to levels not recorded since the aftermath of the civil war three decades ago. The increases came as a result of the sharp decline in the value of the Lebanese currency on the black market, which made imports very expensive, with the continued failure of politicians to agree on a way to address the economic and financial crises despite the devastating explosion that Beirut witnessed earlier this month.
According to UN estimates, more than half of the country's population lives in poverty and struggles to provide for their basic needs. The prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages increased by more than 336 percent year on year. Meanwhile, the price of household water, electricity, gas and other fuels increased by only 11.6 percent in light of the government's retention of subsidizing petroleum products.
Source (Asharq Al-Awsat Newspaper, Edited)
