by Samar Kadi — thearabweekly.com — BEIRUT – The Lebanese government is undecided whether to default on a Eurobond debt payment for the first time to preserve declining foreign currency reserves amid growing popular uproar against uncontrolled increases in prices of basic consumer goods. Lebanon asked seven firms and the International Monetary Fund for advice on dealing with the country’s worst economic and financial crisis in decades, including options regarding its 2020 Eurobond maturities. The first Eurobond, worth $1.2 billion, matures March 9. Lebanese protesters demonstrated outside the Ministry of Economy and Trade in Beirut calling for tighter measures to monitor rocketing prices and protect consumers from “greedy” merchants.

The unemployment rate in Lebanon hit dangerous levels, reaching an unprecedented 40% within a period of four months, a study by Infopro Centre for Economic Information stated. “It is estimated that from October 17, 2019, until the end of January 2020, more than 220,000 jobs have been temporarily or permanently lost, a 38% increase from a survey in November,” Infopro Founder Ramzi el-Hafez said. The study said that during that period, of 300 surveyed companies, 12% had ceased or suspended operations, a 20% increase since November. “The fragility of the private sector had started since the beginning of 2019, with companies reducing their overhead and number of employees and lowering salaries,” Hafez said. “By October 17, most companies had already depleted their reserves and many had lost their ability to resist the crisis.” Tony Ramy, president of the Syndicate of Owners of Restaurants, Cafes, Night-clubs and Pastries in Lebanon, said 785 institutions dealing with food and drink closed from September 2019-February 2020.

MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — A Lebanese-American man in custody in Lebanon isn’t guilty of charges brought against him by the Lebanese government, according to a U.S. lawmaker’s top aide. Naz Durakoglu, senior foreign policy adviser to Democratic New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, said in a conference call with media outlets Friday that colleagues in different U.S. government offices have found no evidence that Amer Fakhoury is guilty of the murder, prison torture and other allegations levied by his native country. Durakoglu said that in such cases there are often made-up allegations or charges, forcing defendants to try to refute lies. She said the U.S. government is instead focusing on the distinct lack of evidence. “In this case we’re confident that he is not who they say he is,” Durakoglu said.

by Cindy Wooden – cruxnow.com — ROME – Pope Francis “is a father who knows very well his daughters and sons,” including those who belong to the Eastern Catholic churches, said the Armenian Catholic bishop of the United States and Canada. Bishop Mikael A. Mouradian of the California-based Armenian Catholic Eparchy of Our Lady of Nareg was one of 15 bishops from eight Eastern Catholic churches who spent close to three hours conversing with Pope Francis Feb. 20. The meeting was part of the bishops’ “ad limina” visits to Rome to report on the status of their eparchies or dioceses. They were the last group of U.S. bishops to complete the visits, which are required regularly of every bishop in the world.

Mouradian had made an “ad limina” visit in 2012, meeting with Pope Benedict XVI. Both popes “were very fraternal” and very much teachers, but Pope Francis’s advice and counsel came from a place “much more near to the heart,” the bishop said. The Armenian bishop and others who spoke to Catholic News Service said they thanked Pope Francis for his decision in 2014 to lift an 85-year-old Vatican ban on ordaining married priests for the Eastern Catholic churches outside their traditional homelands where married priests are common. “I ordained my first married priest two years ago,” the bishop said. “He is our first American-born vocation to the priesthood, and he’s doing an amazing job.”

Mouradian said the pope’s decision to lift the ban did not open any floodgates because the bishop has conditions candidates must meet: “I always request that they have at least five years of experience in matrimony” and have children; and they must have at least a master’s of divinity degree. In addition, “the wife should agree that the husband will be a priest.” When he was named bishop in 2011, he said, all the priests of the eparchy were from the Middle East. He was told, “Don’t look for vocations in the States; you will not find them.” But, he said, the Gospel says to pray that God would send workers for the vineyard. “That’s what I did. I prayed. And worked a little bit for it.”

by asiatimes.com — ALISON TAHMIZIAN MEUSE — The World Bank this week warned that Lebanon, once dubbed the Switzerland of the Middle East for its unique status as both a snow-capped holiday destination and discreet banking hub for Gulf Arabs, is at risk of “implosion” should it fail to reform. A drive from Lebanon’s mountainous north to the capital Beirut will make an observer immediately feel the impact of capital controls and the economic downturn. Ski resorts, from the Cedars to Faraya overlooking the Mediterranean, are operating at partial capacity despite generous powder on the slopes; the oil needed to power electricity generators for the chairlifts is proving far too costly to run them through the season. The ubiquitous billboards and ads that populate every usable space the eye can see are either blank, advertising for New Year’s Eve concerts long-since passed, or screaming out jaw-dropping sales of 50% or more at sports stores and malls. Every fourth car dealership along the north-south highway, from Porsche to standalone lots, is empty or out of business. At rest stops, a pack of Cedars cigarettes, for years priced at 1,000 Lebanese pounds (then 70 cents), have now nearly doubled.

At night, the highway lights remain dark – though this has been the case for years, just one of the many symptoms of rampant mismanagement and corruption to which the population had been forced to acclimate, but which now may finally be hitting a breaking point. “Economic rationing is compulsory today,” Neemat Frem, a prominent industrialist, told one of the country’s most watched talk shows Thursday night. “We can no longer pay for our electricity debt!” Frem, a relative newcomer to politics now heading the parliamentary commission for economy and trade, raised alarm bells on the state of the country’s electricity sector, which loses $2 billion per year despite most households relying on their own generators for half the day’s power. While the party of Lebanese President Michel Aoun has been in charge of the energy portfolio for the better part of the last decade, entrenched corruption is blind to party affiliation. All of Lebanon’s state utilities, from telecom to waste management, have been hollowed out for decades to shore up sectarian patronage networks. For a population that has long prided itself on resilience in the face of crumbling infrastructure and incompetent and corrupt governance, the reality that this moment is different is setting in.

CAIRO ( Sputnik ) A 45-years old woman, who arrived from Iran, has been infected with the novel coronavirus, officially named COVID-19, and taken to a Beirut hospital for quarantine, Lebanese Health Minister Hamad Hassan said on Friday, adding that there were another two suspected cases. “There are no reasons to impose a state of […]

The Observers — Five years ago, Al Sayed left his hometown, Barja, which is located about 30 kilometres south of Beirut, Lebanon, to study at the Wuhan University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, China. He’s lived in the city ever since. The new virus known as Covid-19 was first identified in Wuhan in late December 2019. On January 23, 2020, Chinese officials placed the entire city under quarantine as Covid-19 continued to spread. The very next day, Al Sayed took to Facebook to share what life was like under quarantine and his posts immediately started circulating across the Arab world. At first, Al Sayed was angry that the Lebanese government hadn’t decided to repatriate its nationals who were trapped in Wuhan. However, on the fifth day of the quarantine, he posted a long statement explaining that he had decided to stay in Wuhan. “It’s like there is a war going on in Wuhan”

by independent.co.uk — Robert Fisk — The freezing Mediterranean squalls that slash across downtown Beirut and the seafront to the west may give the impression this week that Lebanon is lapsing back into its favourite pastime: forgetting history and praying for a return to the good old days. Revolution? Now that the country’s old parliamentary sectarians have gathered to support Hassan Diab’s deeply uninspiring government, it’s hard to see how the wretched system behind this country’s fragile grip on reality can ever change. True, the graffiti is still there – including the “God is Great” imprecations spray-painted on the walls just down from my home – and the broken windows on downtown offices and the steel shutters of the banks in the city centre and in Hamra. But there’s a bigger storm coming. More inflation, more taxes, more poverty – though I noticed that the parliamentarians who gathered to vote for the new government were literally very well-heeled – is coming in this tempest. A government which tries to alleviate anger by promising yet more economic suffering is a scenario which only Lebanon can invent.

New taxes on fuel and electricity plus a rise in VAT to 15 per cent – a rate still below EU nations, but likely to rise to 20 per cent – will probably hit first. But the revolution may well return among government employees who receive their salaries in Lebanese pounds, and whose income has already fallen by up to 40 per cent. Compared to price increases of 50 per cent. What many non-Lebanese fail to appreciate is that the Lebanese army and its associated military personnel – all 72,000 of them – are among these government employees. Policemen are going to suffer just as much as the civil society whose anger they must confront in order to protect the government. It’s hard to know whether to laugh or simply dismiss as satire the efforts of Hassan Diab’s cabinet to survive the country’s economic collapse. We all know that Hezbollah’s imprimatur is stamped heavily on the government – those brave symbols of national resistance having long ago decided that their political power is more important than the legions of militia martyrs who died to preserve the independence of the Lebanese civilians, many of whom have protested in downtown Beirut. Yet around 14 of the 20 newly appointed ministers are said to hold US passports. If this true, don’t tell Donald Trump, although the White House insane asylum probably wouldn’t understand the irony – the US embassy in Beirut still cannot get the State Department to answer all their phone calls – not many people there, it seems. But American diplomats in Beirut have been dubiously putting it about among Lebanese banking officials that far too much US dollar currency is making its way from Lebanon to the regime in Syria.

by greekcitytimes.com —Greece’s Minister Foreign Affairs, Nikos Dendias met with his Lebanese counterpart Nassif Hitti, the President of Lebanon Michel Aounthe and the President of the Lebanese parliament Nabih Berri, in Beirut on Wednesday. Following their meeting, during their press conference Dendias declared that “Lebanese-Greek relations are based upon solid foundations of friendship and mutual respect,’’ adding that the trilateral cooperation of the two countries with Cyprus “has produced positive results up to now.” Both Dendias and Hitti “expressed support for political solutions under the guidance of the UN, both in Libya and Syria,” with the Greek Minister praising Lebanon’s “impressive efforts in hosting and addressing the needs of the refugees.” Dendias said he had the opportunity to discuss with his colleague this Monday’s decision at the EU’s Foreign Affairs Council on a new operation aimed at ensuring the implementation of the arms embargo in Libya, then reiterated Greece’s stance on a peaceful resolution there.

by NAJIA HOUSSAR — arabnews.com —BEIRUT: Authorities are battling to prevent “a social explosion” among Palestinian refugees crammed into camps in Lebanon, a top official has revealed. Fathi Abu Al-Ardat, secretary of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) factions in Lebanon, told Arab News that urgent measures were being put in place to try and stop the “crisis” situation getting out of control. “Conditions in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon are very difficult due to the economic crisis facing the country, and we are trying to delay a social explosion in the camps and working on stopgap solutions,” he said.

And Dr. Hassan Mneimneh, the head of the Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee (LPDC), said: “More Palestinian refugees from the camps in Lebanon are immigrating. Embassies are receiving immigration requests, and Canada is inundated with a wave of immigration because its embassy has opened doors to applications.” According to a population census conducted in 2017 by the Central Administration of Statistics in Lebanon, in coordination with the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), there are 174,422 Palestinian refugees in Lebanon spread across 12 camps and nearby compounds. Mneimneh insisted the figure was accurate despite the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) estimating there to be 459,292 refugees in the country. He said: “The census we had conducted refers to the current reality in Lebanon.” He added that he feared “increased pressure on European donor countries over UNRWA in the coming days after the unilateral implementation of the ‘Deal of the Century’ (the US peace plan for the Middle East) by Israel. “Israel’s goal is to undermine UNRWA’s mission as a prelude to ending the Palestinian cause and, thus, preventing the return of Palestinians.”

BEIRUT (AP) – Bassem Mroue— If the government decides to refinance Lebanon’s massive debt, it should be orderly and include negotiations with debt holders as foreign funds are ready for such discussions, the head of Lebanon’s banking association said Wednesday. Lebanon is going through its worst financial and economic crisis since the end of the 1975-90 civil war after decades of corruption and mismanagement by the ruling elite. Nationwide protests broke out in mid-October against the country’s rulers, after which banks closed for two weeks, triggering a run on the banks and worsening the crisis. Chairman of Association of Banks in Lebanon Salim Sfeir made his comments after meeting Prime Minister Hassan Diab, during which they discussed Eurobond debt due in 2020 worth $2.5 billion.

The first to mature are Eurobonds worth $1.2 billion on March 9, and Lebanese officials have been discussing whether to pay on time as they have always have or default. Sfeir’s comments came a day after Fitch Ratings said Lebanon’s financial situation points to a likely restructuring of the country’s debt and financial sector to preserve declining foreign currency reserves. Sfeir said in a statement after the meeting that if the government makes a decision on rescheduling the debt they should “negotiate with bond holders especially foreign funds who have expressed until now readiness to negotiate.” “Any decision regarding Eurobonds is a decision that should be taken by the government only in accordance to what it sees as the good of Lebanon,” he said, adding that the bank association’s aim is to preserve the money of depositors.