Lebanon to pay cash aid to poor families
500,000 families will get $20 a month for every member up to a maximum of six
Lebanon’s government said yesterday that it will start paying cash assistance next month to hundreds of thousands of poor families — in US dollars — as the small nation sinks deeper into its economic crisis.
Some 500,000 families will start receiving $20 a month for every family member up to a maximum of six persons, Minister of Tourism and Social Affairs Ramzi Moucharafieh said during a news conference in Beirut. The payments will be made in US dollars or the equivalent in Lebanese pounds at the black market rate.
Economy and Trade Minister Raoul Nehme said the average payment for every family is expected to be about $93. The move comes at a time when the government is planning to end subsidies on vital products such as fuel and
some medicines. The plan for payments comes as the Lebanese currency has been on a free fall since the economic meltdown began in October 2019. The Lebanese pound is trading at about 20,000 to the dollar on the black market. The minimum monthly wage in Lebanon remains 675,000 pounds ($34).
Moucharafieh said the number of families could be increased to 750,000 when the World Bank makes available a $246 million loan to give cash assistance to 160,000 more families and another programme by the social affairs ministry that currently aids 36,000 families.