About the greed and exploitation of merchants in Ramadan!

The blessed month of Ramadan is an opportunity for piety and return to God and repentance for many, but in return it seems that this spiritual meaning is absent from some merchants who take advantage of this occasion. At a time when charity and solidarity prevails among people, greed for some is spreading, as they raise prices exaggerated and unjustified. While families buy their food needs in the same quantities that they are accustomed to throughout the year, we find that prices have witnessed unreasonable increases that burden citizens, especially those with low incomes.

One of the most prominent examples of this is the Fattoush dish, which is one of the basic dishes on the breakfast table in Ramadan. Its cost this year witnessed a significant increase, as it rose to about 285,540 Lebanese pounds for almost five people, according to the “International Information” report. The prices of some of the main components of the dish as follows: tomatoes 100,000 pounds, cucumber 150,000 pounds, onions 60,000 pounds, parsley 20,000 pounds, mint 40,000 pounds, radish 40,000 pounds, green onions 70,000 pounds, lettuce 70,000 pounds, pepper 150,000 pounds, garlic 300,000 pounds, acid 50,000 pounds, sumac 750,000 pounds, olive oil (liter) 840,000 pounds, bread 65,000 pounds, and salt 29,000 pounds. Consequently, the cost of the Fattoush dish for this year is close to 290,000 pounds, while last year it was 113,843 pounds, which reflects an increase of 65.3%. It is worth noting that the price of the dollar did not change between the two years.

In a related context, and after the reassurances broadcast by officials in the previous period, today, the Secretary of the Livestock Traders Syndicate, Majid Eid, announced expectations of the rise in meat prices in Lebanon to between 14 and 15 dollars per kilogram.

If this is the case of some basic foodstuffs, then what about the rest of the prices that have become unreasonable. The question remains: How will the low -income citizen can provide a decent breakfast table in Ramadan amid these continuous increases?