This is Beirut

Souhaid Unveils Roadmap as Central Bank Governor

Liliane Mokbel, 04/04 15:40 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Banks Central Bank of Lebanon Karim Souhaid Governor Depositors

The new governor highlighted several priorities: strengthening BDL’s governance, ensuring the return of deposits, restructuring the banking sector, and remaining open to all proposals aimed at resolving the banking system crisis. “Deposits are guaranteed, and their repayment must be managed through shared responsibility between the banks, BDL ...

Europe Markets Extend Losses After Tariff Rout

This is Beirut, 04/04 10:25 - Reading : less than a minute

Europe Donald Trump Banks Covid-19 European Union

European equities opened in the red on Friday, extending losses after US President Donald Trump's tariff offensive sparked a global stock market rout. Paris shed 0.9 percent to 7,533.26 points, Frankfurt fell 0.7 percent to 21,566.33 and London also dropped 0.7 percent to 8,416.32. Trump's harsher-than-expected "Liberation Day" levies sent ...

Trump's New Tariffs: A Storm Brewing in Troubled Waters

Christiane Tager, 04/04 09:30 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Donald Trump European Union Banks Europe Turkey

President Donald Trump's recent decision to impose historic tariffs on 185 countries and territories, announced on Thursday, has reverberated across the global economy. The repercussions of these tariffs will be felt worldwide, with Arab countries being especially impacted. Among the hardest-hit nations are Syria, Iraq, Libya, Algeria and Tunisia, ...

Judges and BDL Governor Take Oath at Baabda Palace

This Is Beirut, 03/04 15:50 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Banks Banque du Liban Central Bank of Lebanon Joseph Aoun

Three newly appointed judges and Lebanon’s new Central Bank (BDL) governor took their oaths of office on Thursday at Baabda Palace before President Joseph Aoun. Judges Judge Jamal al-Hajjar, Public Prosecutor at the Court of Cassation and Vice President of the Supreme Judicial Council, was sworn in alongside Judge Youssef al-Jamil, President ...

Israel Approves New Bypass Road in Occupied West Bank

This is Beirut, 30/03 19:10 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Banks Israel West Bank Donald Trump Benjamin Netanyahu

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office on Sunday announced the approval of a road project in the occupied West Bank that would separate traffic for Palestinians and Israelis near the Maale Adumim settlement. "The security cabinet approved last night Defense Minister Israel Katz's proposal for the construction... of a new road network ...

Kremlin: EU Refusal to Ease Russia Sanctions Shows it "Doesn't Want Peace"

This is Beirut, 28/03 14:15 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

European Union Volodymyr Zelensky Banks Kyiv Turkey

The Kremlin said Friday that the EU's refusal to ease sanctions on Russia shows the bloc does not want peace in Ukraine. Moscow is demanding the West remove sanctions on Rosselkhozbank -- the Russian Agricultural Bank -- as a precondition to restoring a deal on the safe passage of Ukrainian cargo in the Black Sea. "An integral part of the Black ...

Lebanon's Central Bank Dilemma: Between Collapse and Recovery

Salam El Zaatari, 27/03 09:30 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Lebanon Banks Central Bank Economy

Imagine a ship caught in a storm – battered, leaking and listing dangerously – while its crew argues not over how to navigate to safety, but whether to abandon ship entirely or simply repaint the deck. This is Lebanon today: a country sinking under the weight of a financial collapse, and yet, paralyzed by a bitter ideological struggle over ...

These Banknotes Aren’t So Green After All

Liliane Mokbel, 26/03 10:30 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Banks Central Bank of Lebanon

The local market is flooded with US dollar bills of all denominations – $5, $10, $20, $50 and $100 – showing various signs of wear: stained, damaged, torn, creased, faded, and sometimes even patched with tape. But are these bills still valid? In a country where the economy is almost entirely dollarized, the high demand and intense ...

Who Destroyed Lebanon: Hezbollah or the Banks?

Hussain Abdul-Hussain, 25/03 15:30 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Lebanon Hezbollah Banks Parliament

A “bloc” of lawmakers, political parties, media outlets, and non-governmental organizations are peddling a platform that distracts attention from the paramount importance of disarming Hezbollah and instead blames banks for the utter misery that Lebanon finds itself in. Such an argument is either too dumb, or its proponents are too ...

Palestinians Denounce Israeli Recognition of New West Bank Settlements

This is Beirut, 23/03 18:08 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Banks European Union Israel West Bank

The Palestinian foreign ministry condemned on Sunday an Israeli decision to recognize more than a dozen new settlements in the occupied West Bank, upgrading existing neighborhoods to independent settlement status. The decision by Israel's security cabinet was a show of "disregard for international legitimacy and its resolutions," ...

Sudan Army Says Retakes Central Bank After Palace Recapture

This is Beirut, 22/03 11:45 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Banks

Sudan's military said Saturday it seized several key buildings in central Khartoum, including the central bank, from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, following its recapture of the presidential palace. "Our forces achieved further success last night, eliminating hundreds of militia members who tried to escape through pockets in central ...

Salam Says There Will Be No Bank Deposit Haircuts

This is Beirut, 21/03 17:35 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Banks International Monetary Fund Hezbollah Saudi Arabia

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam stated on Friday that “there will be no suppression of bank deposits,” and that he would “cross out the term ‘suppression of deposits,’” in a meeting at the Serail with a delegation from the Council of Lebanese Executives in Saudi Arabia. He added that his government’s objective is be to “return” the ...