Ahmad el-Rassi, a 32-year-old Lebanese man, has spent more than a year collecting 3,500 U.S. dollars bit by bit for his bride's diamond necklace.

Al-Rassi hoped to prepare a complete set of bridal diamonds by Lebanese tradition, but the steep devaluation of salaries has made such wishes rather extravagant, el-Rassi, who works as an accountant, told Xinhua.

Since the start of the unprecedented economic and financial crisis in Lebanon, the local currency has lost over 90 percent of its value, forcing the young man to slash his marriage budget.

"I am hoping to make it up for her in the future," el-Rassi said, adding he is also feeling the pinch in buying furniture and household appliances for their new house.

Rabah Taha, a primary school English teacher in Beirut, has promised his bride-to-be a gold necklace, a bracelet and earrings valued at only 2,500 dollars, an amount he has collected by selling one of his father's old cars.

Taha told Xinhua that it would have been impossible to afford the gold set by saving money from his monthly salary of 3.5 million Lebanese pounds, equivalent to about 168 U.S. dollars on the black market.

Official statistics show that most of the Lebanese workforce are employed by the public sector and get paid in local currency, while only 20 percent of people who typically work for multinational companies or companies located outside the country are able to receive their salaries in U.S. dollars.

Moreover, the restrictions placed by banks on cash withdrawals in both U.S. dollar and Lebanese pound have compelled locals to concentrate their limited resources on basic needs including food, medicines and education for their children.

Adnan Rammal, representative of the trade sector in the Economic and Social Council, said the demand for luxurious items has dropped remarkably.

"We have seen a drop in the demand for clothes and jewellery by 80 percent to 90 percent," he told Xinhua, adding this has made merchants turn to exports. Hisham Mazeh, owner of Diamond House, a renowned jewellery shop in Beirut, told Xinhua that shop sales of diamond and gold sets have fallen by 50 percent since the crisis unfolded at the end of 2019.

Mazeh noted that most of the demand for diamonds nowadays comes from the Lebanese who still have dollars in hand and want to hedge against inflation. He said grooms today buy wedding gifts valued between 3,000 dollars and 7,000 dollars, as opposed to at least 20,000 dollars in the past.  

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