Economy

The 'Hole in the Basket' Budget
The 'Hole in the Basket' Budget

Any household provider or anyone overseeing day-to-day expenses can fully comprehend that addressing the financial deficit requires either reducing expenditures or increasing revenues. Unfortunately, the Lebanese government, overshadowed by some of its members’ arrogance and defiance, erroneously believes that the budget that was drafted can be ...

Banks: The Ins and Outs of Litigation Linkage
Banks: The Ins and Outs of Litigation Linkage

Eleven Lebanese banks have initiated legal action by asking the Ministry of Finance to compel the government to repay its debts to the Central Bank (BDL). The purpose of this action is to enable the banks to fulfill their commitments to depositors. One of the lawyers representing the group of eleven banks, barrister Elie Chamoun, explained the ...

Fuel: Credit Card Payments Suspended
Fuel: Credit Card Payments Suspended

Gas station owners took the decision to stop accepting credit card payments starting Thursday, in response to a decision issued by the Ministry of Finance to collect taxes and fees in cash, in Lebanese pounds. In this context, the representative of fuel distributors in Lebanon, Fadi Abou Chakra, apologized to citizens, assuring that he had been ...

El-Khalil: The 2024 Budget Guarantees Financial Stability
El-Khalil: The 2024 Budget Guarantees Financial Stability

Caretaker Finance Minister Youssef el-Khalil asserted on Thursday that the budget draft for the 2024 fiscal year, currently under discussion in the parliamentary Finance and Budget Committee, “remains central to the path of correction and reform, despite the surrounding uproar.” MPs and Lebanese business organizations do not share this view. ...

A Subdued Festive Season
A Subdued Festive Season

While initial projections for the year-end holidays looked promising, stakeholders in the tourism and restaurant industries are currently expecting a somewhat muted festive season. The recent escalation of the conflict between Hamas and Israel, with its repercussions in southern Lebanon, has considerably disrupted the situation. Nevertheless, ...

For Mansouri, Circular 151 Is Obsolete
For Mansouri, Circular 151 Is Obsolete

The Acting Governor of the Lebanese Central Bank (BDL), Wassim Mansouri, stated that, as far as he is concerned, Circular 151 is obsolete. This circular determines the exchange rate for one dollar at 15,000 Lebanese pounds and sets a monthly withdrawal limit of $1,600, which is equivalent to 24 million Lebanese pounds. Circular 151 initially set ...

Budget 2024: 70% of Government Budget Allocated to Electricity
Budget 2024: 70% of Government Budget Allocated to Electricity

The parliamentary Finance and Budget Committee, chaired by MP Ibrahim Kanaan, met on Wednesday to continue its examination of the draft budget for fiscal year 2024. The draft, which was approved by the Council of Ministers on September 12, is currently before Parliament for final approval. After completing the study of the articles of the draft ...

Eleven Lebanese Banks Tie Up Litigation
Eleven Lebanese Banks Tie Up Litigation

Eleven Lebanese banks have tied up the dispute by submitting a memorandum to the Ministry of Finance to compel the state to fulfill its legal and contractual obligations toward Banque du Liban. Eleven banks, namely, in alphabetical order: Bank Audi, Bank of Beirut SAL, Banque Libano-française SAL, Banque Libano-suisse SAL, Banque du Crédit ...

The Mount Lebanon Land Registry: The Nightmare of the Lebanese
The Mount Lebanon Land Registry: The Nightmare of the Lebanese

Activity in the land registry services of Mount Lebanon has been at a standstill since October 2022, after a period of slow operation dating back to early 2020. More than 50,000 land registration formalities in this mohafazat are languishing in drawers. A nightmare for the Lebanese. Real estate transactions are on hold in the land registry ...

Eleven Banks Call On the State to Settle Its Debt to the Central Bank
Eleven Banks Call On the State to Settle Its Debt to the Central Bank

Lawyers for 11 Lebanese banks filed a memorandum on Tuesday, calling on the Ministry of Finance to compel the Lebanese State to immediately pay the Central Bank (BDL) the sums it owes. The banks are taking this action because they are BDL creditors and are wronged by its inability to demand repayment of the Lebanese State's debts. The State must ...

Fayad in Search of Funds at COP28
Fayad in Search of Funds at COP28

Caretaker Minister of Energy Walid Fayad continues his participation in the 28th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 28), which is running until December 12 in Dubai. On Tuesday morning, he took part in a dialogue session on energy efficiency in buildings organized by the Regional Center for Renewable ...

Consumers' Association: +22% for Price Index
Consumers' Association: +22% for Price Index

The Consumers' Association announced in a press release that the prices of goods and consumer goods rose by 22% in the third quarter of 2023, compared with the second quarter of the same year. It said that "despite the stability of the dollar exchange rate at 89,000 pounds, the prices of 140 goods and services that form the basis of life for the ...