Hani Bohsali, Head of the Syndicate of Food Importers in Lebanon, has assured the Lebanese people that food stocks currently available in the local market are sufficient for weeks.
In a statement on Monday, Bohsali emphasized that “the strategic food stocks of food importers are still within the levels sufficient for the Lebanese consumption of foodstuffs for a period ranging between two months and two and a half months.”
He noted that a large number of food products had disappeared from the shelves of Lebanese supermarkets due to the spike in their prices, adding that importers have been expending “great efforts” to secure similar products from global markets.
These alternatives, Bohsali said, have high quality and international standards, and are enough to supply the Lebanese market with large amounts of diverse products that are affordable to “all Lebanese, regardless of their income.”
With that said, however, Bohsali warned that these efforts could go to waste if the exchange rate of the U.S. dollar against the Lebanese pound reached record highs and if hard currency became more scarce in the country.
As such, he emphasized the necessity of forming a government capable of implementing a financial, economic, and social rescue plan in cooperation with the international community.
In order to pressure the Lebanese ruling class to form such a government, a German delegation has presented a multi-billion-dollar proposal to redevelop the Port of Beirut.
