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 ...
Christiane Tager 20/03 11:36 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Despite the looming threat of war, the 2024 tourist season is off to a promising start. With a string of holiday weekends including Catholic and Orthodox Easter, Eid al-Fitr and Labor Day, the current month bodes well for the tourism sector. The signs are quite encouraging! Against all odds, Lebanese citizens abroad continue to flock back ...
This Is Beirut 19/03 21:28 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
The Price Index Committee, which met on Tuesday under the chairmanship of caretaker Minister of Labor Moustafa Bayram, approved an increase in the minimum wage in the private sector and a one hundred percent increase in school allowances. It was thus agreed to increase the minimum wage from LBP 9 to 18 million, which will be fully declared to ...
This Is Beirut 18/03 20:28 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
Lebanon rises to third place in the list of countries with the most miserable economy according to the 2023 Misery Index (HAMI) by Hanke, with a score of 266.1. Lebanon follows Argentina and Venezuela and precedes Syria, which ranks fourth. The HAMI uses readily available economic data to determine how "miserable" or "healthy" an economy is. 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For nearly one year now, the Central Bank of Lebanon (BDL) has withdrawn around 32% of the Lebanese pound's circulating supply from the market.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, ...
This Is Beirut 15/03 15:33 - Reading : less than a minute
Japanese arch-rivals Nissan and Honda said on Friday that they were exploring a strategic partnership in electric vehicles to face up to a "once-in-a-century" upheaval in the car industry. Analysts said that the move was aimed at catching up with Chinese competitors who have stolen a march in EVs while Japanese firms have lost ground by focusing ...
This Is Beirut 15/03 15:29 - Reading : less than a minute
British telecoms giant Vodafone said on Friday that it agreed to sell its Italian unit to Swisscom for eight billion euros in cash, completing efforts to overhaul the UK group's European operations. "Swisscom's purchase of Vodafone Italy and to merge it with its Italian subsidiary, Fastweb, creates a strong contender in the most challenging telco ...
This Is Beirut 14/03 21:14 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
The quarterly index published by Fransabank and the Beirut Traders Association (BTA) to measure activity in the retail sector showed a sharp decline in performance in the fourth quarter of 2023, due to regional events and their direct impact on economic activity in general and commercial activity in particular. The index took a new starting point ...
This Is Beirut 14/03 18:43 - Reading : less than a minute
As part of his tour aiming to ensure the sustainability of housing loans for low and middle-income Lebanese, Chairman of the Board of Directors and General Manager of the Banque de l'Habitat (BDH) Antoine Habib discussed with the Qatari Ambassador to Lebanon, Sheikh Saud bin Abdul Rahman bin Faisal Thani Al Thani, the possibility of cooperation ...
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 ...