Liliane Mokbel is an experienced journalist and editor specializing in economics, with many years of work in print media and radio. A graduate of ESCP Business School, she is also skilled in web writing and proficient in AI-assisted content creation tools, offering insightful and accessible analysis of curret economic issues.
Liliane Mokbel 03/07 19:09 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
The commission tasked with drafting proposals to amend the Monetary and Credit Code (CMC) presented its project to Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Monday after eleven months of rigorous effort. However, there is still a lengthy process ahead before the amendments become effective. The proposed text must first be examined by parliamentary ...
Liliane Mokbel 30/06 11:00 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
Medical care costs are experiencing significant inflation. Major private insurers in the Lebanese market, contacted by This is Beirut, have indicated that their health insurance premiums will increase by about 10% starting July 1st. The decision to raise health insurance premiums comes in a market that has been declining for several ...
Liliane Mokbel 26/06 18:21 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
In a country where state institutions are almost paralyzed and the specter of war is looming, recommendations for breaking out of the stagnation in the real estate sector are nothing short of hypothetical. Panelists at the second Annual Real Estate Forum in Lebanon, that took place on Tuesday, highlighted the plethora of challenges facing the ...
Liliane Mokbel 20/06 13:24 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Is this the beginning of the end of the US dollar's hegemony in the world? This is a legitimate question, given Saudi Arabia's refusal to renew its petrodollar agreement with the United States. This half-century-old agreement has made the US dollar a powerful force in the world of finance. Signed on June 8, 1974, between the United States ...
Liliane Mokbel 15/06 18:15 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
A 17% tax will be applied on profits from transactions carried out by individuals and companies on Sayrafa, the exchange platform of Lebanon’s Central Bank (BDL). The taxable profits are those derived from operations exceeding $15,000 in 2022 and 2023. The decision by Caretaker Minister of Finance Youssef Khalil comes as part of the ...
Liliane Mokbel 13/06 19:14 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
The issue of rents for residential units and commercial spaces remains unresolved. Owners and tenants are navigating between new and old leases. The interpretation of laws is causing division among legal professionals and judges alike. Owners are reluctant to rent out their real estate properties, and potential tenants are hesitant to commit to a ...
Liliane Mokbel 09/06 16:00 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
Economic organisms are urging MPs to promptly discuss and approve amendments to Article 45 of the income tax law. The amendments grant companies an “exceptional” authorization to revalue their inventory and fixed assets, and to manage exchange rate differences from foreign currency receivables and accounts. They can either recognize gains or ...
Liliane Mokbel 02/06 13:19 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
Card payments are no longer the only and main consumers’ option. Bank cards are steadily giving way to alternative payment methods. This is a global trend, and Lebanon is no exception; for instance, electronic wallets are gaining significant popularity. The range of options keeps growing. In the coming years, there will be less cash and fewer ...
Liliane Mokbel 26/05 10:20 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
In 2023, Lebanon imported 31,814 kg of gold bars, valued at $1.9 billion, compared to 16,776 kg in 2022, an increase of 89.6% year-on-year. This marked a record high for Lebanon in terms of the weight and value of gold bar imports over a decade, namely, from 2014 to 2023. According to the research and statistics bureau Information ...
Liliane Mokbel 22/05 20:18 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
Since the beginning of the year, record spikes in the prices of gold, and more recently, silver, have been making headlines. The prices of both gold and silver are closely correlated, influenced by shared macroeconomic conditions and currency risk hedging strategies. 5% Profits But in the current context, the price of silver seems to be rising ...
Liliane Mokbel 09/05 08:30 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
Lebanon is the "biggest contributor" in the issue of illegal Syrian migrants settled within its borders. Since the 2011 onset of the Syrian war, the country has shouldered a significant burden: the cost of hosting this community is estimated to be over $55 billion. Amid the multidimensional crisis that unfolded in 2019, Lebanon is buckling under ...
Liliane Mokbel 03/05 20:47 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
With porous land borders and a cash-based economy steadily growing, Lebanon undoubtedly deserves to be blacklisted by the FATF. But will it be? The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) will hold its last meeting for its annual exercise in June, which starts in July each year and ends in June of the following year. Lebanon is awaiting its verdict, ...
Liliane Mokbel 02/05 11:22 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
The fundamental principle of asset diversification remains unshakable despite the speculative fever surrounding a short-term surge in gold prices, with experts predicting a peak of $2,800 per ounce by the end of 2024. Lebanese investors have turned to gold since the onset of the multidimensional crisis in October 2019, even though the yellow ...
Liliane Mokbel 19/04 20:10 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
The finance world holds its breath, awaiting the unfolding of the simmering yet sustained tensions in the Middle East region. On Friday morning, having woken up on the wrong side of bed to the news of Israeli strikes against Iran's center, investors did not immediately realize that the conflict between the two parties, for the moment, resembles a ...
Liliane Mokbel 14/04 22:08 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
To counter an unprecedented wave of strikes launched from Iran, late on Saturday evening, lasting a total of five hours, Israel reportedly shelled out nearly $1.35 billion. Waging a war requires weapons and money. The numbers speak for themselves. Brigadier General Ram Aminach, former financial advisor to the Israeli Chief of Staff, as quoted by ...
Liliane Mokbel 12/04 18:35 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
The fate of parties engaged in old commercial leases remains uncertain, despite the State Council’s decision on April 5, 2023, to suspend Decree-Law No. 12835 concerning the government's referral of the commercial lease law to Parliament. Until the Council of State adjudicates on the substance of Decree-Law No. 12835 concerning old commercial ...
Liliane Mokbel 28/03 20:50 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
There's no need to look for the difference between the new and old hundred thousand-pound notes. They are one and the same. A wave of speculation about the new hundred thousand-pound bills has oddly swept through the domestic market. These new and scarce blue banknotes, which have been on the market since January, have heightened the ...
Liliane Mokbel 23/03 21:00 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
The real estate sector is going from bad to worse. Hindered by a scarcity of bank loans and a grim outlook for the country's future, both supply and demand have been severely crippled. Agents are leaving for more promising markets abroad. This represents an endless ordeal. “Speaking real estate investments in Lebanon at this juncture is a bad ...
Liliane Mokbel 20/03 20:03 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
As long as minimum wage growth lags behind the inflation rate, salary adjustment measures remain an aberration and a futile economic absurdity. Much like a bottomless pit. Which pertinent indicator did the Price Index Committee use to support the increase in the minimum wage to LBP 18 million, while simultaneously allowing employers to decide the ...
Liliane Mokbel 18/03 18:50 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
For nearly one year now, the Central Bank of Lebanon (BDL) has withdrawn around 32% of the Lebanese pound's circulating supply from the market. This action has successfully stabilized the black-market dollar exchange rate at approximately 89,500 Lebanese pounds to the dollar, an action that has also triggered a simultaneous increase in interbank ...
Liliane Mokbel 17/03 16:30 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
The need for salary increases in the private sector is more than justified, especially given the skyrocketing triple-digit inflation and the 2024 Finance Law, which has seen taxes and levies multiplied tenfold to fortyfold. The concertation between economic organisms and the General Confederation of Lebanese Workers regarding a potential ...
Liliane Mokbel 15/03 19:34 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
The stamp black market thrives openly, with prices soaring to somehow astronomical heights, even within ministries, occasionally. The crux lies in the necessity of affixing the fiscal stamp to almost all accounting formalities, under applicable laws. In the “digital age,” the ordinary taxpayer rightfully wonders why the Ministry of Finance, ...
Liliane Mokbel 13/03 20:57 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
Rehabilitation of the Beirut port: France has honored its commitments to provide technical support. It is now up to Lebanon to take action. The ball is in its court. All hopes are now permitted for a prosperous future for the Beirut port, especially since "a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step," as the Chinese philosopher Lao ...
Liliane Mokbel 08/03 21:56 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
For those wondering when the bank dollar exchange rate is going to increase, it is becoming increasingly clear that it won't happen anytime soon. It's a complete mystery. The causes are many. The government, the Central Bank of Lebanon (BDL) and the Ministry of Finance continue to pass the blame, leaving depositors frustrated. None of them is ...
Liliane Mokbel 29/02 11:08 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
Once again, the government has granted salary increases to public sector employees, disregarding the fundamental recommendations for public sector reforms. The Council of Ministers, led by Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, met on Wednesday at the Grand Serail and approved a salary increase for public sector employees ranging from a ...
Liliane Mokbel 27/02 17:52 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
The National Social Security Fund (CNSS), left to its own devices to recover its reserve funds in Lebanese pounds, has decided to take action. The National Social Security Fund has taken significant decisions to bolster its reserves and restore its role as a ‘partial safety net’ for healthcare for low- and middle-income individuals. The CNSS ...
Liliane Mokbel 17/02 19:28 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
A 31.83% surge brought bank assets to $115.25 billion in December 2023, following the Central Bank du Liban (BDL)'s adoption of a new exchange rate of 15,000 Lebanese pounds per US dollar. As for the assets, currency and deposits held with the Central Bank represented a significant 72.99% of the total, witnessing a yearly decline of 23.4% to ...
Liliane Mokbel 16/02 21:40 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
The Council of State's decision to invalidate the article related to the suppression of a significant portion of the state's foreign currency commitments to the Central Bank of Lebanon (BDL), as outlined in the government's economic recovery plan dated 20/5/2022, brings some relief to depositors and bankers. However, questions concerning the ...
Liliane Mokbel 14/02 10:31 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
On Tuesday, the administrative court ruled on the dispute between the Association of Banks in Lebanon (ABL) and the State. The Council of State invalidated the government's plan to abolish bank reserves at the Banque du Liban (BDL). A major blow, which calls into question the validity of the banking resolution proposed by the government. On ...
Liliane Mokbel 11/02 22:19 - Reading : 5 minute(s)
Should the approval of the Finance Law within constitutional deadlines be enough to presume that "the country is operating effectively"? Taxes and fees have increased by 10 to 46 times, while Lebanese citizens struggle to keep their heads above water. Under the Finance Law, taxes on goods and services, the primary revenue source, are estimated at ...