Lebanon: Medicine Going Out of Stock, Smuggling Fears Mounting

Lebanon: Medicine Going Out of Stock, Smuggling Fears Mounting
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Lebanon: Medicine Going Out of Stock, Smuggling Fears Mounting

Lebanon: Medicine Going Out of Stock, Smuggling Fears Mounting

A number of Lebanese have complained of the exhaustion of certain medicines, including medications for chronic diseases. This caused panic and fear, especially in a country where the interruption or loss of any basic commodity or service such as bread, diesel, and electricity has become natural and possible at any moment.

The head of the Pharmacists Syndicate, Ghassan al-Amin said that Lebanon was not heading towards a drug crisis.

“The availability of medicines is linked to continuous subsidies,” he affirmed.

Amin explained that some drugs were sometimes unavailable for 10-15 days, because of the mechanism adopted by the Lebanese Central Bank in opening credit lines for importers.

Another reason that contributed to the recent exhaustion of drugs is because “some citizens are stocking medicine in their homes. This has “significantly increased drug consumption and contributed to its depletion from pharmacies,” according to Amin.

Smuggling is another contributor, the head of the Syndicate said, expressing his fears that this phenomenon would worsen with the deterioration of the value of the local currency against the USD in the parallel market.

Responding to fears over the rise of prices, Amin stressed that all medicines were subsidized, noting that prices would not rise but they might decrease.

The increase in prices was only seen in nutritional supplements and some products that are sold in pharmacies and are not classified as medicines, he noted.

Amin revealed that there are around 200 pharmacies that have recently closed and expected the number to reach 1,000 out of 3,000 within a year, because most pharmacy owners were unable to sustain further losses.



Oil Steady after US Stockpile Build

An oil pump of IPC Petroleum France is seen at sunset outside Soudron, near Reims, France, August 24, 2022. REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol/File Photo
An oil pump of IPC Petroleum France is seen at sunset outside Soudron, near Reims, France, August 24, 2022. REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol/File Photo
TT
20

Oil Steady after US Stockpile Build

An oil pump of IPC Petroleum France is seen at sunset outside Soudron, near Reims, France, August 24, 2022. REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol/File Photo
An oil pump of IPC Petroleum France is seen at sunset outside Soudron, near Reims, France, August 24, 2022. REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol/File Photo

Oil prices steadied on Thursday after falling more than 1% the previous day because of a build in US gasoline and diesel inventories and cuts to Saudi Arabia's July prices for Asia.

Brent crude futures were up 23 cents, or 0.35%, at $65.09 a barrel by 1148 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude gained 16 cents, or 0.25%, to $63.01 a barrel.

Oil prices closed around 1% lower on Wednesday after official data showed that US gasoline and distillate stockpiles grew more than expected, reflecting weaker demand in the world's largest economy.

Geopolitics and the Canadian wildfires, which can reduce oil production, provide price support despite a potentially over-supplied market in the second half of the year with expected OPEC+ production hikes, PVM analyst Tamas Varga said.

The price cut by Saudi Arabia followed the OPEC+ move over the weekend to increase output by 411,000 barrels per day (bpd) for July.

The strategy of OPEC's Saudi Arabia is partly to punish over-producers by potentially unwinding 2.2 million bpd between June and the end of October, in a bid to wrestle back market share, Reuters previously reported.

"Oil demand will be shaped by trade negotiations between the US and its trading partners," PVM's Varga said.