PROTESTERS blocked roads in Lebanon today in protest against government inaction on deepening poverty.

After day-long roadblocks on Monday, including in and out of the capital Beirut, demonstrators cut off roads in the northern city of Tripoli and the eastern Bekaa Valley region.

President Michel Aoun accused the demonstrators of sabotage, but also called on authorities to prevent the manipulation of food prices.

In a worsening economic crisis and with foreign currency reserves dwindling, authorities have announced that subsidies on fuel and imported food will soon come to an end.

More than half the population lives below the poverty line and the Lebanese pound has lost more than 80 per cent of its value since the autumn of 2019.

In December the UN warned of an impending “social catastrophe” in Lebanon while Riad Salameh, the governor of the country’s central bank since 1993, urged the government to come up with a plan before subsidies are removed.

Protests erupted in October 2019 over planned taxes but quickly developed into an uprising against sectarian rule and economic stagnation.

The government formally resigned after the August 2020 Beirut port explosion, but has since failed to elect a new cabinet.