Banks

Yitzhak Rabin: Oslo Accords Architect Assassinated 30 Years Ago

On November 4, 1995, in Tel Aviv, three gunshots ended the life of former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, plunging the nation into shock. On what was then Kings of Israel Square, now Rabin Square, the architect of the Oslo peace process fell, struck by the bullets of an ultranationalist Israeli Jew. The assassin, Yigal Amir, a far-right ...

BDL Launches Judicial Audit of Payments Since 2019

Karim Souhaid, Governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon (BDL), announced Tuesday that the BDL, in coordination with the Ministers of Finance and Justice, will draw up terms of reference for an external financial and judicial audit of all beneficiaries of the basic goods support program since October 17, 2019. The initiative will be launched through ...

Financial Times Revives Debate Over Hezbollah’s Funding in Lebanon

On Sunday, the Lebanese market reacted strongly to a Financial Times (FT) investigation suggesting that Hezbollah has been using digital wallets and money transfer companies to raise funds and support its purported “charitable” networks. The companies under scrutiny — providers of digital wallets and money transfer services — quickly ...

Lebanon's Industry: Resilient Yet Transforming

In Lebanon, industry remains both a social buffer and a key provider of foreign currency. Yet its macroeconomic footprint has shrunk, reflecting an economy battered by currency collapse, weak domestic demand, and high energy costs. Caught between export momentum and fragile profit margins, the “made-in-Lebanon machine” moves forward ...

Kanaan Rejects New Taxes and Calls for Fair Public Sector Reform

Head of Parliament’s Finance and Budget Committee, MP Ibrahim Kanaan, reiterated on Thursday that the committee “rejects any increase or creation of new taxes and fees” aimed solely at closing the state’s budget deficit. “Every time the state needs funding, it imposes new burdens on citizens. This approach must stop,” Kanaan declared ...

Mali’s Fuel Crisis: A Nationwide Standstill

Since early September, queues at gas stations in Bamako have been endlessly growing. The jihadist group JNIM (Jamaʿat Nuṣrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin) has blocked fuel convoys from Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire, destroying nearly 100 tanker trucks, according to the Associated Press (AP). As a landlocked country, Mali relies on imports for more ...

Beirut’s Southern Suburbs: Real Estate Sales Driven by Fear of a New War

The southern suburbs of Beirut are reportedly seeing an unprecedented wave of real estate sales amid rising tensions between Israel and Hezbollah. A political and military stronghold of the pro-Iranian militia, this densely populated area was heavily targeted during the fall 2024 war and continued to face strikes even after the ceasefire reached ...

No Electoral Reform in Sight as Parliament Faces Quorum Doubts

Uncertainty continues to surround the plenary session scheduled for tomorrow, Tuesday. The session is set to resume the review of bills and draft laws that were on the agenda for the September 29 meeting. That session was postponed after MPs from several parliamentary blocs, including the Lebanese Forces (LF), Kataeb, the Progressive Socialist ...

Lebanon and the Middle East: Between Irrationality and Paradox

When irrationality and reckless behavior come to define the actions of a powerful political faction, it doesn’t take long before red lines are dangerously breached. As a result, serious threats hang over the lives of populations directly exposed to the faction’s erratic excesses. This is exactly what we are witnessing today among several of ...

Syria Urges Banks to Provision Their Claims on Lebanon

The Central Bank of Syria has given domestic banks a six-month deadline to fully provision their claims on the Lebanese banking sector, estimated at $1.6 billion, according to a circular cited by Reuters. The directive does not specify the exact nature of these claims – whether deposits, placements or financial investments – making their ...

De-dollarization: Enduring Shift or Fleeting Illusion?

De-dollarization — whether an enduring trend or a fleeting declaration — reflects a growing determination among emerging powers to reduce global dependence on the US dollar, long the cornerstone of international trade and finance. The initiative seeks to rebalance a monetary system historically dominated by the greenback and move toward a more ...