Lebanese PM-designate: Cabinet needed to restore trust, hope

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BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s prime minister-designate said Thursday that a government that could restart talks with the International Monetary Fund was the only way to halt the country’s rapid economic collapse, adding there was still opportunity to form such a Cabinet. Saad Hariri spoke a day after trading barbs with President Michel Aoun over who is to blame for the five-month delay in forming the Cabinet, while the country unravels. The economic and financial crisis roiling Lebanon is the gravest threat to its stability since the 15-year civil war ended in 1990. Hariri, who was tasked by Aoun to form a Cabinet in October, held an hour-long meeting with the president on Thursday, a day after Aoun urged him to form a government immediately or step aside. Hariri in turn challenged the president to step down, saying Aoun had rejected multiple proposals over the past five months.

On Thursday, Hariri said there was still an opportunity for a government to be formed and said he would meet again with Aoun on Monday. He said a government is necessary to restart talks with the IMF to restructure Lebanon’s debts and to restore confidence of the world community. Talks with the IMF last year failed to reach a deal. Lebanon’s local currency has been in a free fall since late 2019, losing over 90% of its value. The government defaulted on its foreign debt last year and nearly half the population has been pushed into poverty and unemployment. Prices of basic goods have increased and inflation has soared. Banks have imposed informal controls on people’s savings, and the Central Bank’s foreign reserves have shrunk in a country dependent on imports. The outgoing government resigned last August, following a massive explosion at Beirut’s port that killed 211 people, wounded more than 6,000 and damaged entire neighborhoods in the capital.

Lebanese Queue for Fuel across the Country

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by Naharnet -- Lebanese stood in queues in their vehicles on Wednesday as the country witnessed a gradual increase in gasoline prices, one of Lebanon’s multiple plights bringing the country to its knees amid total political failure to address an almost two-year crisis. Frustrated Lebanese queued at petrol stations across the country and lines of cars blocked traffic in several areas, one day after caretaker Finance Minister, Ghazi Wazni, confirmed that Lebanon is scaling back food subsidies and gradually raising gasoline prices to save dwindling foreign reserves. Some petrol stations raised their fuel hoses, a sign known well in Lebanon that the station is out of fuel stock and is not providing any services.

Representative of fuel distributors in Lebanon, Fadi Abu Shakra, told MTV television station that “the rise in fuel prices is linked to the rise in dollar, we cannot know if the gasoline prices will rise by an additional 5,000 next week.” He voiced hopes that a government is formed soon to stop the economic collapse. Besides removing subsidies on basic food products, Wazni said the government plans to gradually increase prices at fuel stations in the coming months, reducing gasoline subsidies to 85% from 90%. Lebanon is battling its worst economic crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war. The national currency is in freefall, while poverty and unemployment are on the rise. The economic downturn has pushed a battered population to the brink with no solution in sight as the country's barons wrangle over forming a new government. In the absence of a fully functioning executive that can spearhead reforms and provide the most basic of services, no rescue seems on the horizon.

Lebanon president to PM designate: Form Cabinet now or quit

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BEIRUT (AP) Sarah el Deeb  — Lebanon’s president called Wednesday on the prime minister-designate to form a government immediately or step aside as the country plunges deeper into economic crisis. In turn, Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri swiftly challenged President Michel Aoun to step down — a sign of a prolonged political crisis. The intractable political battle comes against the backdrop of an economic crash that is proving to be the most serious challenge to the small country's stability since its 15-year civil war ended in 1990. In a televised statement Wednesday, Aoun said that Cabinet lists proposed by Hariri, who was named to the post of premier last October, did not meet the minimum requirements needed to preserve national accord.

Aoun urged Hariri to meet him at the presidential palace and work together on forming a government or step aside if they cannot agree. The call seems an attempt to deflect blame for months-long political battle in which both sides have traded accusations of obstruction. In response, Hariri tweeted that he was surprised by the president's televised invitation and instead urged Aoun to approve Hariri's last list, which he described as consisting of experts and not political nominees. Hariri also called on Aoun to spare the Lebanese more suffering by allowing early presidential elections, and challenging him to spell out why he has so far declined all Cabinets proposed by the premier-designate.

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Lebanese Erupt In Rage As Currency Hits New Low

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By Najia Houssari -- arabnews --  The dollar exchange rate in the Lebanese black market has lost its ceiling, as the pound jumped on Tuesday from 13,000 to 15,000 against the US dollar. Angry protestors took to the streets and forced owners of grocery stores to close, while others voluntarily decided to close and announced that “they will remain closed until further notice and until all this dollar madness stops.” Bakery owners threatened to stop making bread, gas station owners threatened to stop selling. Turmoil prevailed on Tuesday, where protesters closed roads in Beirut. The impasses reached Bliss Street across the American University of Beirut and the upscale Koraytem neighborhood. Protestors burned tires near the Banque Du Liban and other banks and broke the facades of grocery stores. Roads linking main regions in Lebanon were blocked, including those in the southern city of Naqoura. In Tripoli, protestors headed to politicians’ houses and smashed their security cameras.

Working mothers also took to the streets, along with their children, and protested outside the Serail government building in Nabatiyeh, south Lebanon. Ilda Mazraani said: “We are women working both in the private and public sectors. Our salaries have collapsed, and our concerns have increased.” She urged politicians to “act fast to address this deterioration and save the country and the future of our children.” A copy of a document issued by the Lebanese General Security circulated on social media about “the possibility of an escalation in the streets that can reach armed operations targeting the houses of politicians.” The document added: “Information indicates that chaos, subversion, and the use of arms in the streets will prevail, as well as looting and scores’ settling under the pretext of the dramatic increase of the dollar exchange rate and the rising cost of living in implementation of political agendas, which can all break out at any moment now.”

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Panic on the streets as Lebanese pound hits new low

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By NAJIA HOUSSARI -- arabnews -- BEIRUT: Lebanese supermarkets halted sales and businesses closed their doors on Saturday as the country’s embattled currency slumped to a record low on the black market. With the dollar exchange rate exceeding 12,000 Lebanese pounds, panic erupted on the streets as shopkeepers and major outlets stopped selling goods to avoid incurring losses. Amid growing alarm at the country’s increasingly precarious state, activists in working-class areas in Mount Lebanon climbed the minarets of mosques and called on people to take to the streets. A spokesperson for the Oct. 17 revolution said: “We will stay in the squares until the corrupt system falls.” Hundreds of protesters in Martyrs’ Square in downtown Beirut pounded on metal barriers blocking access to parliament and hurled rocks at security forces manning roadblocks. Anti-riot personnel launched tear-gas grenades after violent clashes erupted between protesters and security forces.

In the past three days, Lebanon’s currency has endured a roller-coaster ride, rising to 9,000 Lebanese pounds against the dollar before falling to 10,000 Lebanese pounds. But in a dramatic collapse on Saturday, the Lebanese pound fell from 11,750 to 12,200 against the dollar, with the slump worsening by the hour despite efforts to close online trading platforms. Economist Louis Hobeika told Arab News: “The strong demand for the dollar is caused by the decline in confidence in the country. People are panicking about the future.” Hobeika rejected the idea that banks are buying up dollars. “The dollar trading volume in the Lebanese market does not exceed $2.5 million. The banks want to increase their capital on the request of the Banque du Liban collectively and need $3.5 billion — and this cannot be secured from the Lebanese market.”

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Lebanese Crisis Helped Popularize Cheaper, Local Goods - Foodstuff Importers Syndicate

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MOSCOW (Sputnik ) Lebanon's ongoing Currency meltdown has impacted the country's foodstuff market, with cheaper foreign brands and domestically-manufactured goods rising to prominence on the shelves of local shops, the head of the Lebanese Syndicate of Importers of Foodstuff, Hani Bohsali, told Sputnik. "Importing brands with good value for money from Turkey or Greece or Syria or Jordan or any other country is a necessary phenomenon as you cannot force more expensive products on consumers that are no longer able to afford them," Bohsali stated. With food prices estimated to have increased by a margin of 70 percent since the onset of the country's liquidity crisis at the end of 2019, a large chunk of the country's population has been rendered unable to afford a number of popular goods, leading importers to prioritize cheaper alternatives from other markets.

While the situation is far from ideal in the country's domestic manufacturing sector due to its reliance on imported raw materials, the liquidity crisis has allowed locally-made goods to rise to prominence, with their market share increasing as imported alternatives became prohibitively expensive for Lebanese consumers. "Personal care products like hair gel are mostly produced locally as well as candy, canned foods, ground coffee, bottled water. All of these have been available in Lebanon and their share has increased. However, there are no new industries that did not exist earlier in light of the situation, as making large investments in localized manufacturing to produce items that are still unknown to the consumer is a difficult endeavor," Bohsali added. The Mediterranean nation's ongoing liquidity crisis has had a profound impact on consumers' purchasing power, with over 50 percent of the country's population now living below the poverty line as the currency continues its downward spiral, losing over 85 percent of its value since the onset of the crisis in late 2019.