“You can take pictures of anything you want,” the branch manager of a major supermarket chain in Lebanon told Middle East Eye. “But you can’t take a picture of the price tags.”Meanwhile, a customer on the phone asks, “The price of a can is has gone up to 9000 liras, should I still get one?”From mundane to insane, grocery shops in Lebanon have become a microcosm of the country’s escalating economic crisis in recent weeks.’Everyone is suffering in one way or another’- Abdel-Rahman al-Zein, SaidaAn unstable currency has led to sudden price hikes. With the prices of some items tripling or even quadrupling, panic-ridden shoppers have rushed to stock up on items, fearing they might not be able to afford them anymore.Abdel-Rahman al-Zein, a 24-year-old architecture graduate in the southern town of Saida, tells MEE that empty supermarket shelves are no longer an anomaly.“Prices in grocery stores have become extremely high,” a concerned Zein said. “Everyone is suffering in one way or another.”Zein said that many Lebanese can’t afford to buy meat anymore, and don’t buy fruits like they used to, as it is now considered a luxury item.Back in April, a social worker in the southern town told MEE that prices have gone up by up to 60 percent, but things have taken a turn for the worse since.Lebanon’s currency crisis continues to spiral out of control, as black-market rates reign supreme. In late April, economic anxiety turned into mass protests and frenzy as the Lebanese pound devalued to approximately 4,000 to the US dollar.

Sorgente: Lebanon economic crisis: Food prices are so high not even shops can afford them | Middle East Eye

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