BEIRUT: When Caroline buys charity groceries in Beirut, Lebanon, she keeps her phone close at hand — not to check her shopping list but to calculate the escalating costs of goods now priced at volatile exchange rates that vary by store and sector.
With the continued collapse of the Lebanese economy, a set of exchange rates for the local lira has emerged, which complicates personal accounting and weakens hopes of fulfilling the reform requirements set by the International Monetary Fund.