Photo by: AFP PHOTO/RAMZI HAIDAR

BEIRUT - Loretta Beayni works 10 hours a day, six days a week in a Beirut beauty salon, earning a mere 400 dollars a month, which goes in the blink of an eye on household bills and helping out her parents. Like many Lebanese, she has a hard time making ends meet in a country where
inflation is hefty and where many are forced to take on two jobs to survive. Beayni, 40, has been working at the beauty salon for 15 years, and says she manages to stay afloat largely thanks to tips. "But once I pay all my bills, I have nothing left," she says. "I haven't purchased any new clothes for two years and even had to borrow money to buy a black outfit so I could go to my uncle's funeral." Last month, she was even forced to cancel a doctor's appointment because she did not have the money.

"The bottom 20 percent of the population accounts for only seven percent of all consumption in Lebanon while the richest 20 percent accounts for 43 percent," UNDP said in a February report. Lebanon's inflation rate reached 9.3 percent in 2007, up sharply from 5.6 percent a year earlier, according the Central Administration for Statistics. The 2007 rise included a 14.8 percent jump in food prices, and a 20.9 percent hike for utilities. Salaries, however, have not kept up with inflation, with the minimum monthly wage standing at 300,000 pounds, or 200 dollars.