Lebanon: Importers of Basic Commodities Warn Against Ending Subsidies

People shop at a supermarket in Beirut, Lebanon August 28, 2017. REUTERS/ Mohamed Azakir
People shop at a supermarket in Beirut, Lebanon August 28, 2017. REUTERS/ Mohamed Azakir
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Lebanon: Importers of Basic Commodities Warn Against Ending Subsidies

People shop at a supermarket in Beirut, Lebanon August 28, 2017. REUTERS/ Mohamed Azakir
People shop at a supermarket in Beirut, Lebanon August 28, 2017. REUTERS/ Mohamed Azakir

Since the beginning of 2020, the Lebanese have been suffering from a continuous and sharp rise in commodity prices, mainly due to the devaluation of the local currency against the US dollar in the parallel market.

The Central Bank (BDL) has been subsidizing basic commodities, including wheat, medicine and fuel. However, reports have emerged over the BDL’s inability to continue to subsidize the basic commodities, which would put them at the mercy of the fluctuating exchange rate.

Lifting subsidies on medicine would be a “humanitarian catastrophe”, as described by the head of the Drug Importers Syndicate, Karim Gebara.

“Citizens pay 35 percent of the medicine bill and they can barely afford it; so what if the subsidy is lifted and the value of the bill is doubled?” he asked.

In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, Gebara said it was difficult to define the increase in prices.

“There will be no fixed price or threshold; the prices of medicine will be directly linked to the dollar exchange rate on the black market,” he noted.

If we consider that the exchange rate remains at its current value of LBP 7,500, then this means the price of any drug will be multiplied by five.

Gebara stressed that so far, the Syndicate has not been officially informed of BDL’s ending of subsidies, hoping that such a move, if taken, would not affect the medical sector.

The Syndicate of Gas Station Owners has not been officially informed either, but warned of a real crisis facing the sector and citizens if BDL goes ahead with such a plan.

The head of the syndicate, Sami Braks, stressed that lifting the subsidies would automatically mean an adjustment of fuel prices.

Economic Expert Elie Yashouei said that ending the subsidies has become inevitable, adding: “We will reach it sooner or later.”

“In light of the drastic decline in BDL’s foreign reserves … it no longer has enough funds to support basic commodities or even the 300 commodities in the approved food basket,” he said.

In the event that the prices of goods were determined by the current rate of the US dollar on the black market (USD1= LBP7,500), the price of a pack of bread will exceed LBP5,000, a kilo of chicken will be sold for LBP50,000, a kilo of meat for LBP80,000, and a box of Panadol medicine for LBP15,000.



Israeli Missile Hits Gaza Children Collecting Water

A Palestinian woman reacts as a young man carries the body of her child killed in an Israeli strike, in front of Gaza City's Maamadani (Baptist) hospital on July 13, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
A Palestinian woman reacts as a young man carries the body of her child killed in an Israeli strike, in front of Gaza City's Maamadani (Baptist) hospital on July 13, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
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Israeli Missile Hits Gaza Children Collecting Water

A Palestinian woman reacts as a young man carries the body of her child killed in an Israeli strike, in front of Gaza City's Maamadani (Baptist) hospital on July 13, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
A Palestinian woman reacts as a young man carries the body of her child killed in an Israeli strike, in front of Gaza City's Maamadani (Baptist) hospital on July 13, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

At least eight Palestinians, most of them children, were killed and more than a dozen were wounded in central Gaza when they went to collect water on Sunday, local officials said.

The Israeli military said the missile had intended to hit an Islamic Jihad militant in the area but that a malfunction had caused it to fall "dozens of meters from the target".

"The IDF regrets any harm to uninvolved civilians," it said in a statement, adding that the incident was under review.

The strike hit a water distribution point in Nuseirat refugee camp, killing six children and injuring 17 others, said Ahmed Abu Saifan, an emergency physician at Al-Awda Hospital.

Water shortages in Gaza have worsened sharply in recent weeks, with fuel shortages causing desalination and sanitation facilities to close, making people dependent on collection centers where they can fill up their plastic containers.

Hours later, 12 people were killed by an Israeli strike on a market in Gaza City, including a prominent hospital consultant, Ahmad Qandil, Palestinian media reported. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the attack.

Gaza's health ministry said on Sunday that more than 58,000 people had been killed since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in October 2023, with 139 people added to the death toll over the past 24 hours.

Negotiations aimed at securing a ceasefire appeared to be deadlocked, with the two sides divided over the extent of an eventual Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian enclave, Palestinian and Israeli sources said at the weekend.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to convene ministers late on Sunday to discuss the latest developments in the talks, an Israeli official said.

The indirect talks over a US proposal for a 60-day ceasefire are being held in Doha, but optimism that surfaced last week of a looming deal has largely faded, with both sides accusing each other of intransigence.

Netanyahu in a video he posted on Telegram on Sunday said Israel would not back down from its core demands - releasing all the hostages still in Gaza, destroying Hamas and ensuring Gaza will never again be a threat to Israel.