BEIRUT — After his car broke down on his way from Beirut to his hometown in the Bekaa in eastern Lebanon, Ramzi Kassem, a father of three and a public sector employee, had to pay $1,500 to replace his car engine.
“I pay $100 on a monthly basis in private generator fees. At the pharmacy, the price of medicines is set according to the daily exchange rate of the dollar, just like commodity prices at the supermarket. Everything is priced in dollars,” Kassem told Al-Monitor.
