by middleeastmonitor.com — Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab has today signed off on the 2020 state budget and referred the plan to President Michel Aoun, with 49 members of parliament voting for the budget, while 13 voted against and eight abstained. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri signed off on the budget earlier today while MPs from Saad Hariri’s Future Movement bloc voted against the budget, despite heading the government that originally drafted the plan. MPs from the Lebanese Forces and Kataeb Party boycotted today’s session over the unconstitutionality of a government yet to gain a vote of confidence from the legislature, adopting a budget that was drafted by a fallen government. The 17-page statement was initially passed by the parliament on 27 January, despite the session being surrounded by anti-government protesters determined to prevent MPs from convening. The plan, approved by Berri today, provides between three and 100-day deadlines to carry out the policy proposals, forecasting a six per cent deficit, plans a $700 million reduction in spending, and intends to maintain public services. However, Lawmaker Ibrahim Kanaan, chairman of the Finance and budget Parliamentary Commission, said there are concerns that projected revenues from the budget might not be realistic after three months of political deadlock has led the country into its worst economic crisis since the end of the civil war in 1990.

BEIRUT, (Xinhua) — Lebanese banks on Monday slashed by 50 percent the U.S. currency amount allowed to be withdrawn by depositors from their dollar banks accounts, local media reported. Depositors are not allowed to withdraw more than 600 U.S. dollars monthly, according to Elnashra, an online independent newspaper. Lebanon has been facing for the past […]

by today.com — By Alexander Kacala Jennifer Lopez and Shakira wowed audiences with their co-headlined halftime show on Sunday night at Super Bowl 54. The Super Bowl halftime show was full of fabulous moments, but the internet can’t seem to stop talking about one thing Shakira did. It wasn’t with her hips, it was with […]

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanon’s new government will look to reduce interest rates and recapitalise banks as part of a broad plan that includes taking “painful” steps to escape a deep financial crisis, according to a draft policy statement seen by Reuters. The 17-page statement, which may still be amended, will form the basis of a confidence vote in parliament. It was agreed on Saturday by a cabinet committee that will meet again on Monday to give it final approval.

Prime Minister Hassan Diab’s cabinet was formed with the backing of the powerful Hezbollah group and its allies on Jan. 21, nearly three months after the previous one was toppled by sweeping protests against an elite seen as corrupt and wasteful. Diab must contend with dire financial strains including a dollar shortage that has shattered confidence in banks and prompted them to impose tight withdrawal limits, a sharp fall in the currency, and rising prices. The policy plan said the banking system could be stabilised by recapitalising banks and dealing with a growing number of non-performing loans, though it did not specify how. It urged quick action to avoid a “total collapse that will be difficult, if not nearly impossible, to get out of”. It said the steps would be painful but that Lebanese would “come to know one day that it was necessary”.

by news.yahoo.com —Tim O’Donnell — The foreign ministers of the 22 member states of the Arab League unanimously rejected the Trump administration’s proposal to end the Israeli-Palestine conflict unveiled last week. The resolution said the plan “does not satisfy the minimum of the rights and aspirations of the Palestinian people.” It’s considered a win for Palestinian […]

by aawsat.com — The Lebanese government has taken a central bank circular aimed at regulating the relationship between banks and their customers and will study and decide on it within days, Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni told LBC broadcaster Saturday. Lebanese banks, seeking to prevent capital flight, have tightly controlled access to deposits and blocked most […]

by thearabweekly.com – Sami Kadi —BEIRUT – There is no proper public transport, no housing policy, no electricity and no decent roads in Lebanon, reasons enough for the Lebanese to stop paying taxes, argue activists of the “We Will Not Pay” campaign begun in reaction to the country’s deteriorating economic situation. The campaign, an implicit invitation to civil disobedience, basically calls on the Lebanese to stop paying electricity bills, income taxes and other government fees, in addition to high-interest bank loans that people contracted to finance services that the state has failed to provide for decades, said Roy Dib, a campaign activist. “It is a show of solidarity with the people who are rebelling against the political authorities because they lost their jobs, their savings are frozen and they can no longer afford to pay their dues,” Dib said. “The campaign calls on all Lebanese (without exception), including those who can pay loans, to boycott paying until certain demands are met.” “We pay double power bills (including one for private generators), take house loans because the government has no housing policy, car loans because there is no proper public transportation system and education loans to enroll in private universities because the level of public education has dropped drastically. These financial burdens are imposed on the Lebanese due to the government’s poor services,” Dib said.

Banks have been providing private loans with interest rates as high as 20%. The campaign aims to have banks offer a 6-month grace period for repayment of loans after which they would reschedule payments in addition to eliminating or reducing interest on loans. Dib said boycotting payments of loans “is a pressure tool to reschedule the loans and to assist those who are unable to pay and there are many of them.” “Banks have made a lot of money from high-interest rates over decades. It is time they pay back,” he said, adding that activists have prepared draft bills that some MPs are willing to propose in parliament to force banks to change their policies to protect people unable to pay back loans. The campaign established a hotline to volunteer lawyers providing legal consultations. “Every Friday a person can take an appointment to meet the lawyers and get advice on legal issues with the banks,” Dib said.

Brian Sozzi — by finance.yahoo.com —The million-dollar question for IBM market observers? Did Big Blue — in promoting 30-year insider Arvind Krishna on Thursday night to replace long-time CEO Ginni Rometty in early April — just have its Microsoft Satya Nadella moment? “I wouldn’t be surprised if [IBM] is looking at Microsoft and hoping the same thing happens here,” said Sevens Report Research founder Tom Essaye on Yahoo Finance’s The First Trade. Mostly everyone by now knows the Nadella folk story at Microsoft.

Microsoft promoted Nadella to CEO in 2014, taking over for the always charismatic Steve Ballmer. Nadella joined Microsoft in 1992 and rose the ranks on the technical side of the business. Before assuming the CEO role, Nadella was instrumental in pivoting Microsoft to the cloud. In Nadella, Microsoft got a CEO with real technical chops that could pivot the company to the future of computing and work. That was different from the salesman like skills of Ballmer, which garnered mixed results in terms of stock and financial performance. Since Nadella took over, Microsoft’s stock has surged more than 300%. The company’s market cap is a staggering $1.3 billion. Nadella has used his technical skills to accelerate Microsoft’s shift to cloud and enter into new businesses such as LinkedIn (which he led Microsoft in acquiring). Above all else, most experts would agree Nadella has completely transformed Microsoft’s culture to one focused on speed and execution. To Essaye’s point, IBM is probably hoping to catch Nadella-like magic in the battle with Krishna. Indeed the resumés are very similar.

BEIJING, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point New) :The newly-appointed Lebanese agriculture minister said on Friday that his first priority is to restore good ties with Syria in a bid to facilitate the export of Lebanese products to other Arab countries. “After the government gets a vote of confidence, I will be visiting Syria to build good […]

thearabweekly.com — LONDON – Lebanon has moved to combat “capital flight” after it emerged that $1 billion has already been transferred out of the country despite restrictions on withdrawals. According to local reports, Lebanon’s central bank informed local lenders to settle debt securities and Certificates of Deposit in client accounts, part of emergency measures to […]