Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati met on Wednesday, august 9, at the Grand Serail with caretaker Minister of Finance Youssef Khalil and the first vice-governor of the Central Bank, Wassim Mansouri.
After the meeting, Khalil said they deliberated upon the country’s financial and monetary affairs. He stressed the importance of staying in touch and revealed that some agreements will be signed.
Regarding the payment of public sector salaries in Lebanese pounds, he said, “We will do our best to make sure that civil servants receive their salaries without disruption.”
In addition, Mikati chaired a meeting of the Ministerial Commission responsible for developing an action plan to implement the national social protection strategy.
Caretaker Minister of Social Affairs Hector Hajjar said the plan had to be amended since May 2022, so that only the Lebanese benefit from this strategy.
“We finished the formulation and put it forth today (Wednesday). We asked the ministers to share their comments with us. We have until August 22 to finish drafting the strategy and adopt it in the Council of Ministers,” he added.
The caretaker Prime Minister also received the chairman of the board of directors and general manager of the Banque de l’Habitat (BDH), Antoine Habib. The latter informed Mikati of the final approval granted by the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, based in Kuwait, for the amendments proposed by the Council for Development and Reconstruction (CDR) relating to the on-lending of the Arab Fund loan allocated to BDH, in US dollars. The loan ceiling will stand at $40,000 for low-income individuals and $50,000 for middle-income individuals.
