Beirut, Jan 19 (IANS): Nearly 37 per cent of Lebanese residents and Syrian refugees in Lebanon, or about 1.98 million of them, face "severe food insecurity," UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Imran Riza said.

He made the remarks at a conference held in Beirut, capital of Lebanon, on Wednesday to discuss a UN study about food insecurity in Lebanon, the National News Agency reported.

The study sheds light on the deterioration of the level of food security for the Lebanese and displaced Syrians as a result of the depreciation of the Lebanese currency, the increase in inflation and the high rate of unemployment, Nora Ourabah Haddad, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation representative in Lebanon, told the meeting as quoted by Xinhua news agency report.

A total of 1.29 million Lebanese and 700,000 displaced Syrians are now in need of assistance, she said, adding the number is likely to rise to 1.5 million for Lebanese residents between January and April this year and 800,000 for displaced Syrians.