So the month of Ramadan is upon us (starting March 23rd apparently). Spinneys supermarket, remembered the occasion - remember, a supermarket like Spinneys should be making a killing during such a month with daily iftars in families. Well, the ad tries to sell too much - first it uses the catch-all "nawwaret" (it brings light) but applies it to discounts, and then there is the sentence which apparently it is dressing its ads "the goodness of Ramadan on everyone". But all this aside, a simple calculation would lead you - for a simple family of four - to get to the number of 4 million Liras per iftar. The minimum wage is currently 2 million Liras in the private sector.
Even as simple entree of the Ramadan iftar of fattoush - which should technically include lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes radishes and fried Lebanese bread (which is a little akin to pita) - makes it a luxury at this point. Small hint: the bread "rabta" which keeps diminishing its loaves - currently is at 50,000 liras.
With acute poverty at 65% of the Lebanese population and poverty hitting 80% all I can say is that the math is not mathing people, believe me.