Despite all the crises, oppression, and suffering, the joy of the Lebanese was stronger last night with their national basketball team's qualification for the Asian Cup final, overcoming all obstacles towards the victory that the Lebanese desire not just in sports but in all aspects of their social, political, living, and economic lives. Concurrently, it has become clear that Lebanon, drowning in its crises, is left to its fate from now until the end of the presidential term on October 31. From today until that date, the Lebanese do not know how to pass that period or how prices of fuel, basic goods, and food items will behave as the dollar continues to rise beyond 30,000 Lebanese pounds.
All of this occurs amid discussions of chaos in most files, starting from forming a government, which now seems a taboo subject, reaching the election of a new president, which remains unclear unless goodwill and sincere intentions are available among the political forces to agree on an exit from this crisis, beginning with passing the presidential entitlement and initiating reforms to rescue the country from its uncountable crises.
Additionally, the crisis of bread continues to occupy people amidst confusion and the official inability to find solutions. The Minister of Economy, Amin Salam, has heralded a gradual lifting of subsidies on flour and wheat, estimating that the price of a loaf of bread could equal one dollar, which is around thirty thousand Lebanese pounds. He attributed the queue crisis in front of bakeries to Syrian refugees, criticizing the old subsidy policy, which was carried out randomly and unsustainably.
Political sources expressed astonishment in a conversation with "Anbaa" electronic news regarding the Minister of Economy's approach in discussing Syrian refugees, considering that there is a discrepancy between the Minister's statements and what was announced by Director General of General Security, Major General Abbas Ibrahim, who recently visited Iraq and announced that Iraq would provide one million tons of fuel for electricity, increasing the quantity to two million tons with a promise to supply wheat instead of flour since Iraq does not have a stock of this material.
In this context, economic expert Antoine Farah revealed in an interview with "Anbaa" electronic news that the series of crises in Lebanon will continue as long as the Lebanese state's situation remains as it is in crisis. He added, "Of course, we are a bankrupt state with no resources, and are still acting with what remains of depositors' money, thus all the measures we hear about today and that will be taken are merely stopgap solutions that do not rise to the level of a comprehensive solution. Therefore, we should prepare to face the ongoing crises like those of flour, gasoline, electricity, medicine, and water, which will continue and worsen over time."
Farah stated, "The major disaster would occur if we reach the phase of the presidential entitlement and enter a void of prolonged waiting with no agreement with the IMF or support from donor countries. At that point, we will be confronted with a much worse scene than the current one."
