by middleeasteye.net — Sixteen people in Lebanon, mostly Syrians, were arrested for money transfers and “illegal” currency exchange operations, the army said on Saturday, amid a government crackdown on exchange rate manipulation. The army said in a statement that it had arrested 13 Syrians and three Lebanese who were carrying out “money transfers and illegal currency exchange transactions, using licensed companies and offices as a front”, AFP reported. The suspects used an “unlicensed online platform belonging to one of the financial companies” to carry out the financial transactions, the statement said. The Lebanese pound has been pegged to the dollar at 1,507 since 1997, but the country’s worst economic crisis in decades has seen its value plunge to less than 4,000 on the black market.

The government has sought to stem the fall by launching a nationwide crackdown on money changers it alleges are exchanging the pound for dollars at a rate weaker than the 3,200 per dollar permitted by the central bank. During the arrests, the army seized “significant sums” and also computers and laptops used in the operations, the statement added, specifying that the arrests took place in 12 regions across Lebanon. The network sent dollars with motorists across the border to Syria, specifically to the northwestern province of Idlib, a security official said, referring to a region controlled by rebels. After land borders closed because of the coronavirus pandemic, the network started using an “illegal online platform” controlled by a Lebanese money changer, the official added.

by catholicleader.com.au — Peter Bugden — MARONITE Catholics of Brisbane are appealing for prayers for Lebanon, a nation in crisis. “We would like people to join us in prayers. Really, that’s the main thing that we need,” George Tawk, a Lebanese Catholic from the Maronite parish of St Maroun’s, Greenslopes, said. “Just we need them to join us in prayers for the safety of Lebanon, especially because Lebanon has the biggest Catholic community in the Middle East – next to where Jesus was born, next to the Holy Land. “What we really need, we need support through prayers and through emotional and sentimental support.” Mr Tawk, who is in daily contact with family members in Lebanon, keeps track of the nation’s woes as it suffers under a corrupt government and economic crisis. Nationwide protests erupted last October and continued until the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. “People took to the streets from all religions – Christians, Muslims, Jews – everyone just got up and said that we should get rid of all these people, all these corrupt people, and come back with a new generation (of leaders) …,” Mr Tawk said. “There was two million people in the streets protesting against corruption. “And all these protests kept happening till the coronavirus hit.”

The protests stopped as citizens went into isolation. “But people were worried that during all the isolation, the government could be doing something in secret, especially because the value of our Lebanese lira went dramatically down. “And prices of (everything) including food, went up by three or four times. “So people decided, ‘Well, that’s it, even with the coronavirus, we’re going back onto the streets because we can’t support this anymore’. “It looks like the Lebanese people are really determined to go all the way, whatever the cost is”. Mr Tawk said his family indicated protesting was the people’s last resort. “In Lebanon, there is no other choice,” he said. “Going back is not an option because things can’t get any worse.”

by english.aawsat.com — Lebanon is ready to terminate a 23-year-old dollar peg and float the pound, but only after it secures billions in aid, Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni said Friday. Speaking to AFP after talks started Wednesday with the International Monetary Fund on a plan to rescue Lebanon’s crisis hit economy, he also said banking sector restructuring would entail halving the number of lenders. Foreign exchange shortages have in recent months severely strained the official rate of 1,507 to the dollar, with the pound losing well over half its black market value to trade at considerably beyond 4,000 against the greenback. “The IMF always asks for the freeing of the pound’s exchange rate,” Wazni said. But “we need to change the stabilization policy to one of a flexible exchange rate in a first stage and for the foreseeable future,” he said, referring to an initial managed flotation. “When we receive financial support from abroad, we will transition to flotation” dictated by the market, he said. “The Lebanese government has asked for a transitional period to pass through a flexible exchange rate before we reach flotation,” he added. Wazni said the first phase would involve a gradual depreciation of the Lebanese pound against the dollar, in coordination with the central bank. He said this was necessary because the government feared a “huge deterioration of the pound exchange rate” otherwise.

Merging banks

 Lebanon, which was hit last autumn by unprecedented protests, asked the IMF for financial assistance on May 1 after laying out a much-awaited financial rescue plan. That plan aims to drum up billions of dollars in aid, reduce the deficit, restructure a colossal debt burden and slim down an oversized banking sector. Wazni said banking sector restructuring would be carried out “step by step”, and possibilities included “merging” financial institutions. “Lebanon counts 49 commercial banks and it is normal for that number to decrease to around half of that in the next stage,” he said. Wazni said that the IMF had however not set any political conditions for financial assistance. “No political conditions have been set,” he said.

by middleeasteye.net — Algeria’s president, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, has launched an investigation into a wide-reaching scandal that has embroiled Algerian state energy firm Sonatrach for the last month in Lebanon. Lebanese officials have accused Sonatrach of delivering defective fuel to state-owned Electricity of Lebanon (EDL), and have made 20 arrests since April, including Sonatrach’s Lebanese representative, Tarek Faoual. Last week, Sonatrach denied “the inaccurate and untrue allegations about the involvement of a senior Sonatrach official in this case”, stating that Faoual was an independent maritime agent, working for a subsidiary on behalf of Sonatrach Petroleum Corporation (SPC). Algerian presidential spokesperson, Mohand Oussaid Belaid, on Wednesday described the scandal as a “Lebanese-Lebanese issue” and stated that “Algeria as a state will not be involved” but that “Algerian justice will take care of the part concerning Algeria”. SPC also released a press release to protest the “vile coordinated defamation campaign aimed at damaging the reputation of the company”. Belaid’s comments came a week after Lebanese Minister of Energy and Water Raymond Ghajar received Algerian ambassador to Lebanon, Abdelkrim Rekibi, to discuss the case.

‘Secret’ contract

In the same week, Lebanese MP Paula Yacoubian blasted the “secret” nature of the contract signed between the Algerian national oil company and the Lebanese state in 2005, the same year Algeria announced that its extensive gas reserves were open for business. “The defective fuel case is a huge scandal, documented by numerous reports,” Yacoubian stated at a press conference in parliament, denouncing how certain parties “are beginning work to bury it”. “Petroleum waste is sent to Lebanon and the investigation into this must include the company that operates the central shipping,” the lawmaker added, referring to Sonatrach, also accusing “community leaders and senior politicians” of involvement in the scandal. Last month, EDL informed Lebanese courts that the London branch of Sonatrach had delivered “defective” fuel in its two most recent shipments.

by arabnews.com — NAJIA HOUSSARI — The Lebanese Army, Internal Security Forces (ISF) and municipal police patrolled the streets to catch anyone violating the measures, while ISF armored vehicles were deployed on the streets of Beirut and check points were set up across the country. The exchange rate of the dollar to the Lebanese pound (LBP) slightly decreased on the black market in light of the closure of banks and money exchange shops. It was bought for LBP4,150 and sold for LBP4,250. Pharmacies, bakeries, food stores and gas stations were exempted from closing, while security forces caught and issued tickets to beachgoers. People in Tripoli were outraged by the total lockdown amid the economic crisis they are suffering from. Some even tried to open their shops by force on Wednesday night but, the security forces prevented them from doing so.

During a Cabinet meeting held on Thursday, the minister of health, Hamad Hassan, announced: “The ministry’s medical teams were deployed in various regions across the country as part of a widespread campaign aimed at testing those who came in contact with confirmed cases and those suspected of carrying the virus, in order to update the data related to the country’s epidemiological situation.” Hassan is scheduled to provide the government with a report on Sunday, showcasing the information gathered during the lockdown “so that we can work accordingly.” The third phase of the country’s repatriation process started on Thursday with Middle East Airlines (MEA) aircraft bringing back Lebanese nationals who had been tested for COVID-19 from Istanbul, Riyadh, Paris, Abuja, Abu Dhabi and London. Lebanese diplomatic sources told Arab News: “The repatriation of Lebanese citizens will continue to take place by air. So far, we do not intend to bring them back by sea.”

by naharnet — The International Support Group of Lebanon on Wednesday called on the Lebanese government to “engage all relevant stakeholders, most importantly the Lebanese people, in consultations” on its financial rescue plan. “The ISG takes due note of the unanimous adoption by the Government of Lebanon of its Financial Recovery Plan as a constructive framework for future reforms as well as its decision to request an IMF program as a first step in the right direction,” the ISG said in a statement. “The ISG also takes due note of the assessment by the World Bank that the Plan recognizes the nature and depth of the crisis, the necessary structural reforms and adjustments needed to ensure a vibrant economy with sustainable growth and productive sectors, in a business climate and conditions favorable for private sector development and the prosperity of the Lebanese people,” it added. Recognizing the importance of “domestic political support” necessary for “successful conduct and rapid completion of negotiations with the IMF, the ISG encourages the Government of Lebanon to engage all relevant stakeholders, most importantly the Lebanese people in consultations on the contents of the plan and ways to expedite its implementation,” the Group went on to say. It added: “Equally, the ISG encourages the Government and Parliament to work together in creating the necessary conditions for timely implementation of the needed reforms and to ensure full transparency and accountability as demanded by the citizens of Lebanon.”

by arabnews.com — NAJIA HOUSSARI — BEIRUT: Lebanon’s government on Tuesday ordered the “full closure” of the country for four days, starting Wednesday night, as it seeks to ward off a coronavirus resurgence after easing some restrictions. The rise in new infections follows a drop in cases to zero last week. “This achievement is at risk of collapsing” because some people have not complied with the guidelines, Prime Minister Hassan Diab was quoted as saying during a Cabinet meeting. He said the government will re-evaluate its original five-stage plan for gradually reopening the economy. Hospitals, as well as the food and agriculture sectors, are excluded from the closure. Interior Minister Mohammed Fahmi said: “During the lockdown days, evacuation flights of Lebanese from abroad wishing to return will be completed.” But Dr. Abdul Rahman Al-Bizri, infectious disease specialist and member of the National Emergency Committee on COVID-19, told Arab News that the high number of infections is due to “chaos abroad during the process of repatriation of Lebanese wishing to return … and the chaos inside as result of the lack of follow-up.” He said: “The full-closure step is worthless if the government doesn’t come up with a plan by Monday to contain the epidemic.”

by reuters — BEIRUT: Beirut-based designer Bokja specializes in making upholstered furniture with vintage fabric but the studio’s workers now dedicate their time to sewing colorful silk face masks to curb the spread of the new coronavirus. Profits from the masks, costing about $35, go to nurses on the frontline of Lebanon’s fight against the disease, which has compounded woes in a country wrestling with economic meltdown. “I saw a nurse from the Rafik Hariri Hospital crying on TV…so we decided that part of the proceeds will go to them,” said co-founder Huda Baroudi. Baroudi’s business is one of several that have converted production of items like furniture and clothing to masks. She said nurses have even ordered some. “They help boost morale” said Baroudi. Lebanon has been under lockdown since mid-March to curb an outbreak that has infected 859 people and killed 26. Authorities are warning of a new wave after cases surged in recent days, as the government eased some curbs and allowed businesses to reopen. Safety rules at supermarkets, pharmacies and shops require people to wear masks. “Face masks are a sad thing but when we gave it this form, and each one is different, it took us back to Bokja’s ideology which is to find beauty in ugliness,” said Maria Hibri, the second founder of Bokja.

by NAJIA HOUSSARI — arabnews.com — BEIRUT: A Lebanese customs force was attacked by a large group on Monday as they seized two trucks carrying camouflaged tanks filled with about 22,000 liters of diesel, which were heading to a northern border area with Syria. The Lebanese General Directorate of Customs said that the patrol “used the help of the Lebanese Army, which stopped the fleeing two trucks at one its checkpoints in the area, and they were seized in preparation for taking appropriate measures against the smugglers and the group that protected them.” The news of the illegal smuggling operations between Lebanon and Syria has overshadowed news of the economic crises facing Lebanon, especially as the materials being smuggled are diesel and flour, which are precious goods subsidized by the Lebanese state.

A resident of the northern border area with Syria told Arab News: “No one can control the borders that extend hundreds of kilometers in the north and the Bekaa.” He added: “Diesel smuggling operations are not new, but with the collapse of the Syrian pound and the Lebanese pound, subsidized diesel smuggling has become more active. The price of a liter of diesel in Syria is equivalent to LBP 70,000, while the price of a liter of diesel in Lebanon is LBP 10,000. Smuggling this item brings profits to Lebanese and Syrian smugglers.” He pointed out that smuggling operations do not need to transport trucks loaded with diesel to the Syrian territories; a truck only needs to stop on one of the Lebanese highlands at a certain border point before extending its pipes to exchange the diesel between tanks inside Syrian territory. He added that there are also fixed pipes at other border points, especially in the upper Hermel border in the Bekaa.

by english.aawsat.com — Lebanese authorities warned of a new wave of coronavirus cases after the number jumped to its highest point in more than a month as the government eased some restrictions on public life. The country has been under lockdown since mid-March to rein in an outbreak that has infected 859 people and killed […]