Lebanese inflation hits record high as foodstuff prices jump 400 percent

Web Editor | ConsumerConnect

Following the escalating political and financial crises rocking the country since 2019, Lebanon’s annual inflation rate reached a record high and food prices soared by up to 400 percent December 2020.

This development has highlighted the dramatic impact on consumers and businesses of the country’s worst financial crisis in decades, agency report stated.

It was learnt the annual inflation was 84.9% in 2020, compared to just 2.9% a year earlier, according to data released by the government’s Central Administration of Statistics Thursday, February 11, 2021.

A Dried Foodstuffs Shop

The latest inflationary rate was said to be the highest since 2013, when the current readings began.

Consumer prices jumped 145.8% in December versus the same month of 2019, report said.

Lebanese inflation rate hits record 146% December, as food prices have soared over 400 percent.

Breakdown of December price increases from a year earlier is as follows:

• Food and non-alcoholic beverages rose 402.3%
• Alcoholic beverages, tobacco up 392.5%
• Clothing and footwear increased 559.8%
• Restaurants and hotels rose 609%
• Furnishings, household equipment and routine maintenance up 655.1%

Lebanon’s currency collapsed after political and financial crises escalated in 2019, with foreign currency inflows and the central bank’s reserves dwindling.

The official peg of 1,507.5 pounds per dollar only applies to imports of fuel and pharmaceuticals, with essential food items bought at a central bank-supported rate of 3,900 pounds.

The Lebanese currency has reached 8,800 per dollar on the black market.

Aid talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have stalled after disputes with commercial lenders and the central bank, the country’s largest debt holders.

The government resigned in the aftermath of a massive explosion in Beirut August 2020, and has been running the country in a caretaker capacity as efforts at forming a new administration have stalled, according to report.

There has been little stimulus to save an economy that’s also been battered by a raft of measures to control a spike of Coronavirus cases.

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