Economy

Gold Prices Skyrocket as Confidence in Rate Cuts Grows
Gold Prices Skyrocket as Confidence in Rate Cuts Grows

Gold hit another fresh record high Monday as investors grow confident that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates this year, even after data showed a slight uptick in a key inflation report. The precious metal has enjoyed healthy buying interest this year as the US central bank hints at an easing of credit conditions. It hit a new high of ...

IMF Approves $820 Mn as Part of Egypt Bailout
IMF Approves $820 Mn as Part of Egypt Bailout

The International Monetary Fund announced on Friday the immediate disbursement of $820 million to the Egyptian government, part of an augmented plan to aid the nation's stumbling economy. The IMF's Executive Board validated the payment as part of a $3 billion aid program granted at the end of 2022. The IMF action, repeatedly postponed and ...

The New LBP 100,000 Banknotes: The Treasure Hunt!
The New LBP 100,000 Banknotes: The Treasure Hunt!

  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 ...

Recipe for a Prosperous State
Recipe for a Prosperous State

  For the 2024 budget, as with any controversy over public finances, one notices that the debate is limited to more or less taxes to reward more or less civil servants: the active, the inactive, the moderate present, the absent, the invisible, the non-existent, without distinction. No idea about other possible revenues or less wasteful ...

Ministry of Energy Awaits TotalEnergies Report
Ministry of Energy Awaits TotalEnergies Report

The Ministry of Energy has sent a letter to TotalEnergies asking it to submit the report on the results of drilling in Block 9 by mid-April, according to sources quoted by the LBCI television channel. These sources state that the six-month deadline for publication of the report has expired, pointing out that Total had repeatedly promised to ...

World Bank Report: Childcare Is the Main Obstacle to Women's Employment
World Bank Report: Childcare Is the Main Obstacle to Women's Employment

Childcare responsibilities are one of the main obstacles to women's employment in Lebanon, according to a new World Bank Group report released on Wednesday. Expanding the availability, affordability, and quality of childcare services, while tackling social norms around their utilization, can support women in joining or remaining in the workforce ...

Memorandum of Understanding Between BDH and USAID
Memorandum of Understanding Between BDH and USAID

Antoine Habib, Chairman of the Board and CEO of Banque de l'Habitat, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Scott Short, Director of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The aim is to offer technical and logistical expertise to the bank to help low- and middle-income people who will benefit from the institution's ...

Finance Committee Meeting on Healthcare
Finance Committee Meeting on Healthcare

The parliamentary Finance and Budget Committee, chaired by MP Ibrahim Kanaan, discussed on Wednesday the follow-up to health-related topics in the budget for fiscal year 2024, such as hospitals, hospitalization and drugs for chronic and incurable diseases. At the end of the meeting, Kanaan said that caretaker Health Minister Firas al-Abiad is ...

Traffic and Vehicle Management Authority: Schedule of Formalities
Traffic and Vehicle Management Authority: Schedule of Formalities

The Traffic and Vehicle Management Authority announced in a press release on Wednesday that it will open its doors at the Dekwaneh center on Thursday, March 28, 2024 for the registration or formalities of new cars and motorcycles with chassis numbers ending in 0, 1 and 2. Tuesday, April 2 is for those with chassis numbers ending in 3, 4 and 5. ...

Hezbollah-Israel Conflict: One Blow Too Many for the Economy
Hezbollah-Israel Conflict: One Blow Too Many for the Economy

Once again, the Lebanese economy is bearing the heavy brunt of the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel. Initial estimates indicate losses of around USD 2.5 billion in a country already struggling economically. The military conflict between Hezbollah and Israel is far from over, which makes it difficult to gauge its impact on Lebanon, a country ...

Ogero on Strike Again… One Year Later
Ogero on Strike Again… One Year Later

One year to the day after their open strike on March 24, 2023, the Ogero employees' union is staging a warning strike, today, Wednesday, which will be followed by two others on Wednesday, April 3, and Thursday, April 4. The union has given the government "a deadline until April 15 to respond to all demands without exception." These demands ...

Public Administration Employees Threaten Open-Ended Strike
Public Administration Employees Threaten Open-Ended Strike

The Public Administration Employees Association announced in a statement that "some ministries are taking arbitrary measures that have no legal basis, in a suspicious attempt to enslave employees, or an attempt to offer obedience and groveling at the expense of the employee's dignity." The statement said, "Of these behaviors, one ministry asked ...