by independent.co.uk -- Robert Fisk @indyvoices -- I sniffed something was wrong in Lebanon when the central bank governor Riad Salame announced to us all that there were plenty of dollars in the system. No shortages. No tightening of the purse strings. I still have the papers with his announcement on page one. Both before, during and after the 1975-1990 civil war, you’ve been able to pay for anything here in Lebanon in US dollars: dinner bills, rent, militias, guns (during the war), cars, airline tickets, groceries. The Lebanese pound fell amid the conflict but settled afterwards – courtesy of the country’s billionaire prime minister Rafiq Hariri – at 1,500 “lebs” to the dollar. And everyone was happy. You knew that the cheerful local currency, splashed with colourful cedar trees, Roman ruins and Phoenician figurines, was interchangeable with the greenback. General Grant’s face was equal to 75,000 lebs. We even combined them in our change.

Until I walked up the road to my local ATM last week, inserted my bank card, demanded $400, was given the usual warning that this would attract an extra $5 from the machine – and was then presented with a terse voice message: “Your transaction has been cancelled.” The accent was American, of course. I tried again, at $200. Same problem. I’ve always been enthralled by the linguistics of banking. A “transaction” has held a certain thrall for me. A transaction should surely be the purchase of a property, the buying of shares, the takeover of a mega company. But by the end of my miserable ATM trip, I put in for 400,000 Lebanese pounds ($266) and was treated to a wad of those beautiful Lebanese notes with their pictures of the Baalbek ruins, museum masterpieces and, indeed, illustrations of Salame’s Lebanese central bank. My “transaction” had been completed. In other words, there were not many dollars in the system. And this is where the Lebanese economic story starts to go downhill.

BEIRUT (Reuters) By Tom Perry, Jonathan Spicer -- - Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri said on Tuesday the United Arab Emirates has promised investments and financial aid to his deeply indebted country, though work remains to seal the deal, after two days of high-stakes talks in Abu Dhabi. Hariri, who led a Lebanese delegation to the allied Gulf state, was seeking funds to stem a sharp loss of investor and depositor confidence that has pressured Lebanon’s currency and strained its lenders and central bank. While the UAE had made no announcement about funding by Tuesday evening, any sort of relief could buy Beirut time as it looks to shore up dollar reserves and begin enacting fiscal reforms it has long promised with little progress. “The Emiratis promised investments and financial assistance,” he was quoted as saying in an official transcript of his comments to reporters in Abu Dhabi.

While the talks with the Emiratis were positive, Beirut “has to do some things to encourage them” to invest in Lebanon, Hariri added, without providing details. “We are negotiating with them the investments they want to make in various sectors, in addition to financial investments in some banks or in the central bank,” he was quoted as saying in the transcript published by his office. Faced with one of the world’s highest debt burdens, low growth and crumbling infrastructure, Beirut has vowed to implement long-delayed reforms to narrow its budget and current-account deficits, though little has so far been done. The country, which has a debt-to-GDP ratio around 150%, is also seeking to reverse a sharp loss of confidence in the Lebanese pound. Its central bank has been drawing down its foreign exchange reserves to repay the state’s maturing debt, and has promised to do more.

by europe.autonews.com -HANS GREIMEL- TOKYO — Carlos Ghosn, still barred from leaving Japan as he awaits trial on financial misconduct charges, spends his days convening not only with lawyers but also his personal trainer. It is no coincidence the indicted former Nissan chairman is working out, walking and bicycling to regain weight he lost during his 129 days of lockup in Tokyo. To hear his wife, Carole Ghosn, tell it, the fallen auto legend is gearing up for the battle of his life, not unlike a boxer in training for a big fight. "He's healthy in body and mind. He's getting weight again, and he's combative," Carole said in a phone interview last week. "He's ready to defend himself and prove his innocence."

One thing 65-year-old Carlos will not be doing is pleading his case in public anytime soon. Carole says plans for a long-anticipated news conference are on indefinite pause because his advisers fear reprisals from prosecutors. Carlos, she notes, was arrested and jailed in April just a day after he, then free on bail, took to Twitter to say he would hold a presser. "He's not going to speak out. He's scared," Carole said in a wide-ranging talk with Automotive News. "No more press conference. After what happened to him last time, it was a very clear signal that 'You keep your mouth shut.' " Carlos remains on a short leash of stringent bail conditions that restrict everything from his Internet access to his contact with his wife — the couple is barred from direct communication. Running afoul of prosecutors, she said, invites even closer scrutiny. "He's not going to shoot himself in the foot," said Carole, adding that she only hears how Carlos is doing through third parties such as lawyers. "He's not going to do anything when he's under their control and speak out against them when they can very easily find any excuse to put him in detention," she said. Carole said she hasn't seen her husband since April 4 and that five applications to visit him were rejected. The Tokyo prosecutor has opposed a meeting, citing a risk of evidence tampering. Carole counters that barring contact is a warrantless pressure tactic for strong-arming a confession.

by middleeasteye.net --The United Arab Emirates will allow its citizens to travel to Lebanon, lifting a 2016 ban that came in support of Saudi Arabia's anti-Hezbollah policies. Emirati official news agency WAM announced the decision on Monday during a visit by Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri to Abu Dhabi. Hariri is leading a delegation of officials to the Emirates, seeking aid for Lebanon's struggling economy at the UAE-Lebanon Investment Forum. The Emirati travel ban came in support of Riyadh in February 2016, a month after Iranian protesters attacked the Saudi embassy in Tehran in response to the execution of Saudi Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr. At the time, Saudi Arabia cancelled aid to the Lebanese army over the growing influence of Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, on the government in Beirut.