STORY: Daily cup of coffee, a luxury for Lebanese amid economic crisis
DATELINE: June 21, 2023
LENGTH: 0:01:57
LOCATION: Beirut
CATEGORY: SOCIETY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of street views in Manara
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Arabic): ALI TERRO, Visitor
3. various of Issa Assaf's coffee shop
4. SOUNDBITE 2 (Arabic): ISSA ASSAF, Coffee shop owner

STORYLINE:

Lebanon's financial crisis deprives many Lebanese of their simplest joy: a daily cup of coffee.

A daily cup of coffee in Manara, a famous tourist destination situated on the coast of Beirut, are among the favorite activities of people with limited incomes.

A cup of coffee in Manara used to cost 1,500 Lebanese pounds, equivalent to 1 U.S. dollar ahead of the crisis, and is now priced at 70,000 Lebanese pounds (0.75 cents), which is less expensive for people with U.S. dollar income and way more costly for people whose salaries are still paid in the local currency.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Arabic): ALI TERRO, Visitor
"The economic situation is tough. No one can now drink three cups of coffee a day. I used to drink five or six cups of coffee a day, but now I barely drink one per day, and I keep it in my hands for most of the day."

Lebanon's crisis plunged over 80 percent of the population into poverty as the currency collapsed and workers' salaries in the public sector were devalued by more than 90 percent.

People today focus on basic needs as their purchasing power is unprecedentedly reduced.

SOUNDBITE 2 (Arabic): ISSA ASSAF, Coffee shop owner
"Demand has dropped by 50 percent. We used to sell 100 cups daily, for instance. Now we sell 50. Thank God it is fine, but our profits dropped by much. They are not like in the past."

Lebanon has been going through an unprecedented economic and financial crisis which saw the closure of thousands of institutions and the lay-off of hundreds of thousands of employees.

Lebanese authorities hope the expected arrival of many tourists will bring revenues to the crisis-hit country until a deal is signed with the International Monetary Fund to put Lebanon on path of recovery.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Beirut.
(XHTV)