Economy

New NSSF Policies Facing Employer Discontent
New NSSF Policies Facing Employer Discontent

On Friday, Mohamad Karaki, the Director-General of the National Social Security Fund (NSSF), made a pivotal decision to set the exchange rate at 89,500 Lebanese pounds per one dollar for calculating contributions from NSSF members who receive their salaries, either in full or in part, in foreign currencies. This adjustment becomes effective as of ...

Final Negotiations Around Circular 151
Final Negotiations Around Circular 151

All eyes are on the meeting of the Central Council of the Banque du Liban, scheduled for today, led by the vice-governor Wassim Mansouri, alongside council members. The agenda for this meeting, initially set for Wednesday and rescheduled due to some members' travel, includes the amendment of Circular 151 after extensive weeks of discussions and ...

Fuel Crisis: Deliveries Set to Resume in the Next Hours
Fuel Crisis: Deliveries Set to Resume in the Next Hours

Twenty-four hours after the Association of Oil Importing Companies declared the suspension of fuel deliveries in protest against the 10% exceptional tax levied on businesses benefiting from the subsidy policy introduced by the state in 2020 and 2021, a solution seems to be looming on the horizon. The president of the association, Maroun Chammas, ...

Circular 151: New Directives to Be Issued Friday
Circular 151: New Directives to Be Issued Friday

Wassim Mansouri, the Central Bank's (BDL) Acting Governor, will set off to Riyadh on Monday upon a special invitation to participate in a conference on regional financial stability. But before he leaves, he is scheduled to finalize, on Friday, the details of a new directive with BDL’s Central Council. This directive allows depositors who were ...

Who Exploited the Dollars Allocated for Subsidized Products?
Who Exploited the Dollars Allocated for Subsidized Products?

The destiny of the Finance Law remains uncertain. Every budgetary article voted by Parliament is subject to invalidation appeal before the Constitutional Council once the text is promulgated and published in the Official Gazette. Before the final version of the 2024 budget was released, an outcry erupted over an article that was introduced during ...

Outcry Over Covert 'Extraordinary Tax' in Budget
Outcry Over Covert 'Extraordinary Tax' in Budget

A 10% "extraordinary tax" imposed on businesses benefiting from the government's subsidy policy, introduced at the last minute into the 2024 budget, sparked widespread anger. Unions and economic organizations alike denounce it as an arbitrary and, mostly, “unfair” penalty. After oil-importing companies suspended fuel deliveries since ...

Fuel: A New Crisis?
Fuel: A New Crisis?

Fuel importing companies will hold a press conference on Wednesday at 3 PM to explain the reasons behind the decision taken on the previous day to suspend the delivery of gasoline, diesel and gas starting the following day. They contest the "exceptional tax" of 10% imposed on the total turnover of oil importing companies over a period of two ...

Real Estate: Increase in Surface Area Owned by Foreigners
Real Estate: Increase in Surface Area Owned by Foreigners

The purchase of property by foreigners has seen a slight increase in recent years, despite Lebanon's current crisis, according to data from the General Directorate of land registry. Information International, a Beirut-based research consultancy, notes that the area owned by non-Lebanese was 38,677,856 m² at the end of 2019. By the end of 2023, ...

Hospitals Ask to Be Exempted From the Fuel Importers' Strike
Hospitals Ask to Be Exempted From the Fuel Importers' Strike

The Union of Private Hospitals called on oil-importing companies to exempt hospitals from their decision to suspend fuel deliveries. In a statement published on Wednesday, it called on the companies to "immediately supply them with fuel, in order to preserve patients' lives." The union also warned of "the serious repercussions of this decision ...

Lebanese Stock Exchange: Still of Use?
Lebanese Stock Exchange: Still of Use?

It seems that the Beirut Stock Exchange is the next victim of the creeping state genocide. In reality, it's not the stock exchange itself that's directly targeted; it should continue to operate, but rather the Capital Markets Authority, which oversees its management. Persistent information and rumors indicate a forced and collective resignation of ...

Public Sector: Yet Another Strike!
Public Sector: Yet Another Strike!

The wave of recriminations has once again engulfed Lebanon's public sector, which went on total strike on Tuesday, January 30, until February 9. Civil servants are denouncing a government that failed to keep its promises and commitments. The Lebanese public administration is on strike starting today, January 30, until February 9. The strike was ...

But What Happened to the Bank Dollar?
But What Happened to the Bank Dollar?

The issue of the bank dollar exchange rate remains unresolved. Parliament withdrew from this task during the review of the 2024 Budget, while the Central Bank of Lebanon (BDL) is taking its time to decide on the matter. The acting governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon, Wassim Mansouri, is expected to arrive in Beirut from Paris on Tuesday ...