The price of the dollar fell today against the Lebanese pound, Sunday, March 6, 2022, in the unofficial parallel black market transactions.
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The price of the dollar today in Lebanon
The price of the dollar in Lebanon this evening, Sunday, in the unofficial (black) parallel market, recorded between 20650 and 20700 Lebanese pounds per dollar.
The price of the dollar in Lebanon this morning, on the unofficial (black) parallel market, ranged between 20700 and 20750 Lebanese pounds per dollar.
With the country entering the atmosphere of the parliamentary elections, and a few days before the closing of the date for submitting applications for nomination on the fifteenth of this month, signs of a serious economic crisis began to loom on the horizon, indicating the worst, and recalling the difficult days that the Lebanese lived through in the past two years, and the scene of queues in front of gas stations. The banks and food finance centers, apparently as a result of the negative rebounds of the Ukrainian war, and the crazy rise in the prices of oil, wheat, oils and other necessary commodities that directly affected Lebanon. It is happening in the past two days, for which the greed of some merchants and the monopoly that appears at every crisis that rears its head have been blamed, and which portends a more difficult crisis if the state does not move on two parallel lines: the first is to find an alternative to the Ukrainian markets to secure basic needs, and the second is to strike with an iron hand to put an end To the offending merchants and companies who take advantage of the crisis to invest and reap profits. The crisis was resolved, in parallel, revealed by a member of the Independent Center Bloc, Representative Ali Darwish via “Al-Anbaa” “The electronic report on a meeting devoted to food security in the presence of Prime Minister Najib Mikati and the concerned ministers responsible for securing the necessary needs of the Lebanese, in which all measures were taken to secure other sources of import within a short period to remedy the crisis, expecting to start implementing the financing card soon after the Ministry of Social Affairs will be It has completed the process of checking the names of the beneficiaries, and who deserves this assistance. On the other hand, the financial and economic expert, Antoine Farah, said that the Russian-Ukrainian war will have very negative repercussions on the economic and financial level in all countries of the world, but it is certain that the countries The weak and the poor will be most affected, including Lebanon. Lebanon is at the bottom of the ladder. Farah said in an interview with the electronic newspaper “Al-Anbaa”: “I say it with peace of conscience, Lebanon will be at the bottom of the ladder and the most affected countries, because we do not have a state or officials who think about how to confront the crisis,” he added. We heard before the outbreak of the war that the Ministry of Economy had a plan to confront the crisis, but it turned out later that it had nothing. The state does not have financial capabilities, and the modest capabilities that exist in the Banque du Liban, which is from depositors’ money, have also become scarce, so losses were great due to the support of the lira.” All production chains in the world, including Lebanon, will have to, and therefore the state will be unable to do something that will make it difficult for the Banque du Liban to pay the differences and necessities. In all of this, the citizen no longer has the ability to afford more, the situation is getting worse,” he continued, “Imagine if the price of a can of gasoline becomes 500 or 600,000 pounds, so will the price of the dollar remain as it is at 20 thousand pounds?” It will definitely rise more, and if the Banque du Liban stops fully supporting the lira, the disaster will inevitably be greater. Lebanon, and with the repercussions of this war, will have a very difficult situation, unless a miracle happens and we have officials who know how to deal with such a crisis.”
fuel market
The fuel market in Lebanon witnessed a significant increase in prices, against the backdrop of large global increases in the price of oil, affected by the global rise in oil barrels as a result of the Russian-Ukrainian war.
Medicines .. on the black market or the countries of the diaspora!
It came in “Asharq Al-Awsat”: Samar searches for the missing blood pressure medication whenever the quantity she has near runs out. She wanders around the pharmacies of Beirut, contacts friends and relatives to search for her medicine within the scope of their residence or work. She often leaves this search trip with an empty basket, and rarely succeeds in “grabbing” a box at a pharmacy, “but the price is rarely according to the official pricing of the Ministry of Health,” she told Asharq Al-Awsat.
Samar is one of many Lebanese who are searching today for their lost medicines, whether on the black market or through friends and acquaintances in the diaspora.
Official pricing for medicines
The Lebanese Ministry of Health sets the official price of medicines in an index displayed on its electronic platform, and it rises or falls according to the change in the dollar exchange rate in the parallel market. Some pharmacies refuse to abide by the official price, and Samar (60 years old) recounts that she paid for one box 191,000 Lebanese pounds, while the Ministry of Health set the price at 128 thousand pounds, and says: “I no longer care about the price as much as I care to find the medicine, and I am ready to pay the price they ask for.”
In this context, Joe Salloum, head of the Pharmacists Syndicate, confirms to Asharq Al-Awsat that “most pharmacies are committed, but the violations are minor and for technical reasons,” but he adds: “Sometimes pharmacies have bought the drug at a high price and do not want to incur a loss by selling it at a cheaper price.” .
Riad Salameh
After the Governor of the Banque du Liban, Riad Salameh, announced that the funds needed to continue the support were not available, the Lebanese government issued a decision last November to lift partial or total support for most medicines. Before lifting the subsidy by 115 million dollars, this decision did not solve the crisis of unavailability of many medicines.
“Local industry is the alternative
Salloum explains that “the local industry is the best alternative in terms of quantity and quality, in addition to the price, which is considered relatively acceptable.” Although the locally manufactured alternative compensates for the existing defect to some extent, according to Salloum, he confirms the absence of an alternative for a large number of drugs. He explains that "to cover the market's need for locally manufactured medicines, a monthly support of 8 million dollars must be allocated, while the subsidy that is given is only 4 million dollars, half of the required amount."
There is talk in the corridors that the partially subsidized drugs will remain missing from the Lebanese market until the subsidy is lifted, and Salloum believes that “we are faced with two solutions, either to give sufficient money to support the drug or to raise it completely, and if the trend is for the second option, it must be accompanied by the drug card. that allows the patient to obtain medication.
$25 million budget
For his part, the head of the Syndicate of Drug Importers in Lebanon, Karim Jbara, explains to Asharq Al-Awsat that the Banque du Liban can only support the pharmaceutical sector with an amount of 25 million dollars per month, and this amount, according to all statistics, is not sufficient to meet the need, no matter how large the rationalization is, noting that “drug importers They were spending $70 million in the past to cover the market need.” Gebara says: “Today, we are no longer as importers, deciding which subsidized medicines we will import, and we are not the ones who determine the quantity. Rather, we submit requests to the Ministry of Health, which studies them and plays the role of judge in determining the types and quantity according to the priorities it sets, to include the largest possible number of medicines within the $25 million budget. ».
Lebanon bank
He points out that the Banque du Liban cannot increase funds to support medicine, and this is what he confirmed to Minister of Health Firas Al-Abyad. Lebanon will not receive any funding from donor countries without providing reforms.” As for the second solution, according to him, it is represented by appropriating the amount of 25 million dollars from the Banque du Liban to support intractable medicines, and to lift support for chronic medicines in exchange for providing a drug card in Lebanese pounds to the citizen that compensates for the difference in raising the support It covers the cost of the medicine.
Lebanon pharmacies
While the largest number of patients are unable to find their lost medicines, some resort to relatives and friends abroad, including Jamila (80 years), who explains to “Al-Sharq al-Awsat” that her daughter searched for a drug for heart disease or an alternative to it, which is one of the subsidized chronic medicines. partially. She adds, "My daughter searched for medicine in most of Lebanon's pharmacies, but did not find a single pill. From here, she had no choice but to turn to her acquaintances outside Lebanon, so she communicated with her friends in Jordan, Egypt and Turkey without result, until she found him in France. Since then, her friends bring enough quantity for two or three months on every visit they make to Lebanon.”
Another method that patients resorted to to secure their medicines is through merchants who travel periodically to import their goods. Moussa, a clothing merchant who travels more than five times a year to Turkey, allocates part of his travel bag to bring the “order” recommended by those looking for medicine, as he explains to Asharq Al-Awsat, adding: “Paying in cash dollars with a small margin of profit.” .
Black market
On the other hand, the black market has become the only solution for many Lebanese who cannot find their medicines, including Jamal, who confirms that he found on the black market the best solution to shorten the search effort. A man in his forties who suffers from high blood sugar and depression, has not been able to find in Lebanon the special needles for a diabetes test device for about a year, in addition to the medicine he uses to treat diabetes and depression, he tells Asharq Al-Awsat. Jamal found his “craving” at a pharmacy that sells a box of needles for $33 in cash (about 700 thousand pounds), a box of diabetes medicine for 10 dollars (200,000 pounds), and depression medicine for 20 dollars (400,000 pounds), as he recounts. “When needed,” he says. All considerations fall, and if the state had provided medicines and medical supplies, we would not have been forced to pay three times the price.”
Some wealthy pharmacies owners import the missing medicines from Turkey, Egypt, the Gulf states and Europe, at their own expense, and sell them on the black market for cash dollars.
Illegal import of medicine
A pharmacist who illegally imports medicine told Asharq Al-Awsat: “Smuggled medicine is the only solution for patients who are unable to secure their medicines. Not taking medicines for chronic and incurable diseases regularly threatens the patient’s psychological, physical and mental health, and may lead to his life… What we are doing represents the stage of salvation for many
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