The Lebanese Central Bank stops buying the dollar through its “exchange” platform as of this date

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by asumetech.com -- The Central Bank of Lebanon said today, Sunday, that it will stop buying dollars through its “exchange” platform, starting October 25, until further notice. The statement added that the bank will continue to sell dollars exclusively through its platform, according to Reuters. Bankers said the move aims to support the Lebanese pound after it traded to a new low of over £ 40,000 per dollar last week. The lira has lost more than 95 percent of its value since 2019, when it was valued at 1,500 before the country’s economic meltdown began.

The Lebanese financial crisis, which has lasted for three years, has pushed three quarters of the population into poverty, as food prices have risen more than 11 times, with the latest price hike in supermarkets in recent days. Having pegged the currency for decades, the Central Bank of Lebanon currently offers multiple exchange rates, including a flexible exchange rate. It is worth noting that Lebanese Finance Minister Youssef Al-Khalil said the state should not be “solely” responsible for paying depositors whose deposits have been frozen by the economic crisis.

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The President awarded Deputy Speaker Bou Saab the National Order of the Cedar

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NNA - President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, met Deputy Speaker of Parliament Elias Bou Saab. The President awarded Deputy Speaker Bou Saab the National Order of the Cedar at the rank of Senior Officer, in appreciation of his patriotic contributions and the effective role he played in the course of the recent negotiations to demarcate southern maritime borders. President Aoun was briefed by Deputy Speaker Bou Saab on the latest developments related to the arrangements taken for the official demarcation of the border, and the upcoming visit in the middle of next week of the American mediator Amos Hochstein, during which the President of the Republic will deliver the letter officially signed by the United States of America in preparation for the Naqoura meeting, which concludes this stage of the negotiations that have already been made.

President Aoun had announced Lebanon's unified position on it. At the end of the meeting, Deputy Speaker Bou Saab thanked the President for his initiative, stressing his constant commitment to work for the interest of Lebanon and the good of its people. --- Presidency Information Office

Lebanese singer Haifa Wehbe to perform in Saudi Arabia for first time

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english.alaraby.co.uk -- Lebanese songstress Haifa Wehbe, who has previously courted controversy for performances deemed too sexy, will be performing in the Gulf kingdom for the first time next week. Haifa Wehbe is to perform in Saudi Arabia for the first time next week, alongside fellow Lebanese songstress Elissa. The two singers - among the most famous in the Arab world - will perform in the Gulf kingdom's capital on 28 October, as part of the 2022 edition of state-sponsored entertainment festival Riyadh Season. "I'm very happy because my dream is coming true and I will meet the Saudi audience for the first time in Riyadh," Wehbe tweeted earlier this week.

The conservative Gulf kingdom seems an unlikely setting for a concert by Wehbe, who has sparked controversy for performances and outfit choices deemed by some to be inappropriately sexy. But since Muhammad bin Salman became crown prince in 2017, Saudi Arabia has tried hard to present itself as a venue for major international cultural and sporting events of all stripes. Nevertheless, the country has been unable to shake off its reputation as a prolific abuser of human rights. It has continued to throw government critics in jail for lengthy periods of time, or even has them killed. Critics of Saudi Arabia's rulers say Riyadh is using arts and sports events to clean up its image. One widely-shared tweet alleged that during the concert, Saudi authorities would ensure calls to prayer would be quietened down so as not to interrupt proceedings. The New Arab could not independently verify the claim

Lebanon's MPs fail for a third time to elect next president

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By Jamie Prentis -- thenationalnews. -- Lebanese politicians failed for a third time to elect the country's next president on Thursday with no candidate receiving enough votes, only 11 days before the term of incumbent Michel Aoun ends. Parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri said the next election session in the 128-seat chamber would take place on Monday. In the first polling round, which took place in late September, a two-thirds majority was required to win. But an absolute majority is needed in subsequent votes. Of the 119 votes cast, 55 were blank and 17 for “New Lebanon”. MP Michel Moawad, who received the most votes in the first round with 36, increased his share to 42 — but that was nowhere near the threshold needed to be elected Lebanon's next president. “It is clear that one camp comes to elect a president while another attends the sessions just to hide its desire to block them,” said Mr Moawad, a staunch critic of the Iran-backed armed group and political party Hezbollah.

Will the Lebanon-Israel maritime gas deal shore up Aoun's legacy? Mr Moawad, whose father Rene served as president for 18 days in 1989 before being assassinated, described himself as the only “serious candidate”. He has received the support of parliament's largest party, the Lebanese Forces, the Kataeb Party, the Druze Progressive Socialist Party and a handful of independent MPs. Among the big names not to back a candidate yet are Hezbollah, Mr Berri's Amal Movement, and the Free Patriotic Movement, which was founded by Mr Aoun.

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EXCLUSIVE Looped in 'line by line', Hezbollah shows pragmatic side in Lebanon-Israel deal

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By Laila Bassam & Maya Gebailey -- BEIRUT, (Reuters) -Before Lebanon's government approved a U.S.-brokered deal settling a decades-long maritime boundary dispute with Israel, the powerful Hezbollah had scrutinized the final draft line by line and given a crucial nod of acceptance. Branded a terrorist group by Washington and a sworn enemy of Israel, the Iran-backed Hezbollah was certainly nowhere near the negotiating room during U.S. shuttle diplomacy which clinched the landmark deal last week. But behind the scenes, the heavily armed group was being briefed on the details and expressing its views even as it threatened military action were Lebanon's interests not secured, according to sources familiar with Hezbollah's thinking, a Lebanese official and a Western source familiar with the process.

An unprecedented compromise between the enemy states, the deal opens the way for offshore energy exploration and defuses one source of potential conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. Observers say the deal was all the more significant for the pragmatism shown by Hezbollah, pointing to the shifting priorities of a group set up four decades ago by Iran's Revolutionary Guards to fight Israel. "The Hezbollah leadership scrutinized the understanding line by line before agreeing to it," said one of the sources familiar with the group's thinking.

After spending much of the last decade deploying fighters and military expertise across the Middle East to help Iran's allies, notably President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, Hezbollah's focus is today squarely on Lebanon - a country in deep crisis. More involved than ever in state affairs, Hezbollah has said offshore oil and gas are the only way for Lebanon to emerge from a devastating financial meltdown that has hit all Lebanese hard, including its large Shi'ite constituency. Though Hezbollah says it does not fear war with Israel, the group has also said it does not seek one with a formidable foe which staged major invasions of Lebanon in 1978 and 1982. Lebanon took years to rebuild from the last war in 2006 - much of the bill paid by Gulf Arabs who have since shunned Beirut because of Hezbollah's sway. And while Tehran's support remains strong, Western sanctions have squeezed the amount of cash Iran can send the group.

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Lebanese parliament passed new law for banking security

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by bolnews.com -- The Lebanese parliament passed a new set of modifications to a financial secrecy law on Thursday after the International Monetary Fund stated that a prior proposal remained deficient in significant ways. Lebanon must undertake a list of measures, including revising its banking secrecy law, before gaining access to $3 billion to alleviate its economic crisis, one of the worst in modern history. Late in July, the Lebanese parliament updated the financial secrecy law, but the International Monetary Fund (IMF) proposed a number of revisions, thus President Michel Aoun sent the bill back to parliament for revision. The newest draft was approved by parliamentarians on Thursday despite strong criticism from independent MPs and outside observers that it failed to follow the IMF’s suggested revisions.

The most recent proposal does not eliminate financial secrecy in its entirety. The new draft allows more government agencies to request transaction data for criminal investigations than the old draft. A lawyer and head of the Commission for Depositors of the Beirut Bar Association, Karim Daher, stated that the new proposal lacked the necessary transparency. “The whole point is to make sure that transfers between the bank owners and the political class cannot be traced. They are fleeing accountability at all costs,” Daher said. Mark Daou, a first-time member of parliament, stated that he attended the finance committee’s session on the new general assembly proposal. “Several members of parliament made comments on this draft and how it shouldn’t be passed in this way. Suddenly, we find that it’s on the agenda for the general assembly to be voted on,” he said.

The measure must yet be signed by Aoun, whose term ends on October 31. The IMF did not respond to a request for comment immediately. In recent weeks, it has bemoaned Lebanon’s “slow progress” in implementing the measures outlined in the staff-level accord.