‘Financial surrealism’: Lebanese opt for beer over banks

Details

BEIRUT, (Reuters) - Faced with the choice of leaving their savings stuck in the bank or investing them at a huge loss, some Lebanese people are opting to take a punt. For them, it’s the only sensible option in a financial system warped by crisis. Largely locked out of their dollar deposit accounts since late 2019 when the Lebanese pound crashed and the banking system buckled amid widespread political protests, some savers see investments in export-focused companies as a way to access hard currency and get something for their "lollars", the nickname for U.S. dollar-denominated deposits 'trapped' in Lebanon's banks. Alcohol exporters, including craft brewers and gin merchants, are a popular choice. "If you invest with me today trapped dollars I’ll give it back to you in fresh dollars," said Kamal Fayad, chief executive of 961 Beer, a Lebanese beer exporter. Under informal capital controls, depositors can still write cheques on their U.S. dollar-denominated accounts but those cheques cannot be used abroad and if sold at local exchanges they lose at least 75% of their value.

The steep discount reflects the predicament of having dollars parked at Lebanese banks. Starved of dollar funding, the banks limit customers' access to their funds and currently pay out at a rate of 3,900 Lebanese pounds to the greenback, around a quarter of the value of dollars on the black market. Fayad said he was in talks with investors to raise the equivalent of over $1 million which would include between $3 million-$4 million lollars. "Investors prefer to take the risk on me rather than keep money in the bank, at least I'm doing something good for the industry. I'm safer today to them than a bank," he said.

Read more ...

الرئيس ميشال سليمان : "يجب ان يلتئم الحوار فوراً للخروج من الإنسداد الحاصل

Details

By alhadeel.net --

في حوار عبر الهاتف اجرته الشراع مع الرئيس ميشال سليمان دعا فخامته الى ان تلتئم هيئة للحوار بصورة فورية للخروج من الانسداد الحاصل . .. وشرح الرئيس سليمان في هذه المسألة قائلاً: " انا مع الدعوة الى الحوار لمتابعة البحث من النقطة التي انتهت اليها الحوارات السابقة مثلاً: 

١ - مناقشة الآلية التنفيذية لتطبيق اعلان بعبدا وبخاصة التحييد

٢- مناقشة الاستراتيجية الدفاعية التي يجب ان تختصر بعد انقضاء هذه السنوات بوضع جدول زمني لا يتعدى السنة والنصف للتخلي عن السلاح على ان يوضع قرار استعماله خلال هذه المدة عند رئيس الجمهوريةوبطلب من قيادة الجيش في كل حالة ."

Read more ...

Lebanon’s crisis threatens one of its few unifiers, the army

Details

by apnews.com -- ZEINA KARAM and BASSEM MROUE -- BEIRUT (AP) — Since the civil war, through wars with Israel, militant bombings and domestic turmoil, Lebanese have considered their military as an anchor for stability, one of the only institutions standing above the country’s divisions. But the military is now threatened by Lebanon’s devastating financial collapse, which the World Bank has said is likely to rank as one of the worst the world has seen in the past 150 years. The economic meltdown is putting unprecedented pressure on the U.S.-backed army’s operational abilities, wiping out soldiers’ salaries and wrecking morale. The deterioration puts at risk one of the few forces unifying Lebanon at a time when sectarian tensions and crime are on the rise amid the population’s deepening poverty. “Such a decline could be harbinger of the kinds of instability not seen since the last time Lebanon’s political elites gutted or set adrift the Lebanese armed forces, namely in the five years leading up to the 1975-1990 civil war,” said Aram Nerguizian, senior advisor of the Program on Civil-Military Affairs in Arab States at the Carnegie Middle East Center.

The military itself has raised the alarm, unusual for a force that is perhaps unique in the Middle East in that it largely remains outside politics. Army chief Gen. Joseph Aoun warned in a speech to officers in March that soldiers were “suffering and hungry like the rest of the people.” He also openly criticized the political leadership, which has been paralyzed by infighting and has done almost nothing to address the crisis. “What are you waiting for? What do you plan to do? We have warned more than once of the dangers of the situation,” he said — a startling comment since army officers are not allowed to make political statements. A senior army official confirmed to The Associated Press that the economic situation has greatly affected morale. “There is no doubt that there is great resentment among the ranks of the military,” the official said. The official noted that “many duties are demanded of the military,” including maintaining internal stability. “The leadership is worried over developments in the security situation on the ground and the ability to deal with this issue,” the officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. Supporting the army is crucial to avoid Lebanon falling into chaos, he added.

Read more ...

Around 1.5 million Lebanese in need, top UN humanitarian official there warns

Details

by news.un.org -- “The explosion at the Beirut port has accelerated a lot of things, that's for sure”, said Deputy Special Coordinator Najat Rochdi, who is also UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon, speaking to reporters at the UN in Geneva, referring to the deadly blast last August that killed around 200 and devastated the city. She said necessary political reforms had not been carried out “on time”, despite widespread warnings over the looming economic and financial crisis, that “a lot of analysts had already predicted…We're not talking about something that takes us by surprise today. I think everyone knew about it”. Between April 2019 and April this year, the consumer Price Index has increased by more than 208 per cent and the price of food and beverages increased by 670 per cent. As a result, over half of the Lebanese population is now living in poverty.

Public services wrecked “The crisis in the economy, the currency devaluation, as well as the governance vacuum has meant a breakdown of public services at a time when they are most needed”, said Ms. Rochdi. She added that "the pandemic has worsened a situation which was already fragile”. The Deputy Special Coordinator said international confidence had been hit by the failure to form a functioning government, deterring investors, and exacerbating the failure of the banking system and other public institutions. Extreme poverty rose threefold during the past two years. More and more Lebanese households are unable to afford basic services like food, health, electricity, water, internet, and child education. “The country is in the middle of a phase of hyperinflation, eroding the value of the national currency, people’s purchasing power and what remains of their trust in their leaders and institutions”, said Ms. Rochdi.

Read more ...

Lebanese Army Commander thanks Qatar for continuous support to its citizens

Details

by gulf-times.com -- The Commander of the Lebanese Army, General Joseph Aoun, has expressed thanks and gratitude to Qatar, for the valuable assistance and generous support to his country and its citizens, in the wake of the explosion at the Beirut Port. This came during his meeting on Monday with HE Director-General of Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD) Khalifa Jassim al-Kuwari, in the presence of Qatar's ambassador to Lebanon Mohamed Hassan Jaber al-Jaber. The meeting was attended by a delegation of the QFFD, Faisal Mohamed al-Emadi, representing Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS), Nawaf Abdullah al-Hammadi, representing Qatar Charity and Ali al-Mutawa, counsellor at the Qatari embassy in Lebanon. General Aoun said that the visit of the QFFD delegation is highly appreciated due to the situation faced by Lebanon, and said it is the best evidence of Qatar's keenness on Lebanon and its people.

HE al-Kuwari reiterated Qatar's support to Lebanon, and asserted that QFFD will implement the announced development, educational and health projects, as part of implementation of the directives of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, on allocating $50mn to support the brotherly Lebanese people, during the Paris conference. During the meeting, senior officers in the Lebanese Army Command reviewed the results of the restoration and reconstruction process in the Beirut area affected by the port explosion, the tasks of the Army Command in this context, and the work mechanism and distribution of aid to those affected.

Lebanese trade unions launch general strike to demand new govt

Details

By Najia Houssari - arabnews.com -- BEIRUT: Public prosecutors in Lebanon have been instructed to crack down on the monopoly on foodstuffs and oil derivatives as political, security and diplomatic concerns grow over explosive daily protests. The spontaneous protests are also demanding access to medicine, fuel, hospitalization and electricity. The Crisis Observatory at the American University of Beirut warned that “the risk of Lebanon falling into the rank of failed states has become a reality after it fell 36 places over five years.” Its rank in 2021 was among the 34 most failed states out of 179 states. The Public Prosecutor at the Court of Cassation, Judge Ghassan Oueidat, on Monday called on public prosecutors in Lebanon to “strictly pursue the monopoly of foodstuffs and oil derivatives, after there has been a lot of refraining from selling these subsidized materials, or selling them at prices that exceed the set price.”

Judge Oueidat said that what is happening “are crimes stipulated by law and must be prosecuted, and shops, warehouses and stations belonging to the suspects must be sealed with red wax.” The judicial procedure came as trade unions and civil bodies prepare for a general strike that begins on Thursday to push for the formation of a government. On Monday, unions of food industries, bakeries, transport workers and taxi drivers announced that they would respond to Thursday’s strike. Bechara Al-Asmar, head of the General Labor Union, told Arab News: “Our move will be escalatory. I don’t know if the strike will last more than a day; we will see what happens Thursday.”

Read more ...