by thenational.ae — Lebanon’s central bank head Riad Salameh on Wednesday defended his record after being accused by the prime minister of failing to take action to stop a dire economic crisis and allowing a massive slide in the national currency. In a rare, hour-long live television speech, the head of Banque Du Liban complained that there was a coordinated campaign against him, arguing that the bank’s role was to finance the state but that ultimately, politicians controlled how it was spent. Mr Salameh called on politicians to take overdue economic reforms but said it was not BdL’s fault if successive governments have failed to take action. Lebanese law states that the central bank must finance the government at its request, he said. “We have contributed to reducing the cost of public debt by lending to the state at low-interest rates… The central bank has funded the state but not spent its money,” he said. He said that BdL is attempting to stabilise the price of the Lebanese pound as much as possible as it trades at exchanges at nearly 60 per cent below the official peg. He added that it wasn’t the bank’s actions that had driven up the price of medicine, wheat or fuel and assured banks that their deposits with BdL are still there.

The central bank was not the only one to finance successive Lebanese governments, he pointed out. Lebanon has received financial support from international institutions and foreign countries in the past decades. While this might be Mr Salameh’s strongest argument, it does not explain who will bear the losses caused by the current financial crisis, Lebanese economist Sami Nader said. “Who will bear the losses of a state accused of corruption, depositors?” Rumours of a “haircut” – a reduction on holdings – on bank accounts have been circulating these past months in Lebanon, increasing fears that people’s hard cash has evaporated. Banks have restricted access to cash and banned international transfers since to the public since last October. The crisis sparked nation-wide demonstrations, with protesters accusing politicians of corruption.

Beirut, Lebanon (CNN) — By Tamara Qiblawi, CNN — Cash-strapped Lebanon is facing growing turmoil after the fallout from the coronavirus outbreak sparked violent protests over rising hunger and poverty. Lebanon’s economy, like many others around the world, was brought to a screeching halt by a government-imposed lockdown designed to stop the spread of Covid-19. But the restrictions have further exacerbated the country’s deep and long-running financial crisis. Since a popular uprising gripped the country late in 2019, its currency has dropped and it defaulted on its debt for the first time. Now, after nearly two months of lockdown, food prices are soaring and the Lebanese lira is in free-fall.

Prior to the Covid-19 outbreak, the World Bank projected that 45% of people in Lebanon would be below the poverty line in 2020. Now, the government believes that up to 75% of people are in need of aid, Social Affairs Minister Ramzi Musharrafieh told CNN. “We are hungry,” came the resounding cries from angry protesters as they faced off with security forces during demonstrations that swept through Lebanon’s major cities on Monday. Lebanese soldiers remove burning tires placed by anti-government protesters to block a road. One demonstrator, Fawaz Fouad al-Samman, died on Tuesday morning after sustaining gunshot wounds during clashes with the army in the northern city of Tripoli, his sister and a fellow protester said. The hospital that treated Samman’s wounds confirmed his death to CNN. Protesters dubbed the 26-year-old as “the martyr of hunger.” In a tweet, the Lebanese army said it was “deeply sorry for the falling of a martyr” during Monday’s protests and said it has opened an inquiry into the death. The military added that rioting was carried out by “infiltrators,” and stated that it “will not tolerate any person in breach of security and stability.” Tripoli protester Ghassan, who did not want to disclose his full name for security reasons, was with Samman when he was injured. Referring to Lebanon’s uprising, which began in October, Ghassan told CNN: “It was the worst battle we’ve seen since the start of the revolution.”

By Sarah Dadouch — BEIRUT — Violence escalated Tuesday in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli as protesters angered by the collapse of the country’s currency and spreading economic upheaval burned down a series of banks and countered volleys of tear gas by pelting security forces with stones. These latest arson attacks came at the end of a large funeral for 26-year-old Fawwaz al-Samman, who died Monday from gunshot wounds, which his sister said on Facebook he had suffered during clashes with the army. The army released a statement Tuesday expressing regret for his death, without claiming responsibility, and announced it is opening an investigation into the incident. As mourners filled the streets of Tripoli for his funeral, they dubbed him “Martyr of the Hunger Revolution.” But shortly after the government announced Friday a five-phase plan to reopen the country, the protesters — overwhelmingly young and frustrated with the severe lack of job opportunities — emerged from their quarantine. Molotov cocktails destroyed a bank branch late on Saturday in the southern city Tyre. The following two nights, more banks were attacked and set on fire across the country. Protesters shut down highways. The army retaliated with tear gas and rubber bullets. 

by AFP — TRIPOLI: Lebanese protesters angered by a spiralling economic crisis clashed with security forces in the country´s north overnight as a months-old anti government movement gained new momentum despite a coronavirus lockdown. A 26-year-old protester died on Tuesday from a bullet wound he had sustained during the confrontations between the army and hundreds of demonstrators that rocked Lebanon´s second city of Tripoli. Sixty people were injured, including some 40 soldiers, during the exchange which saw protesters throw stones at troops who fired live rounds into the air to try to disperse the angry crowds under clouds of tear gas.

The overnight violence was the latest in a string of anti-government protests and social unrest fuelled by unprecedented inflation that this week saw a free-falling Lebanese pound reach record lows against the dollar. Angered by the financial collapse, demonstrators across Lebanon have rallied, blocked roads and vandalised banks for two days, re-energising a protest movement launched in October against a political class the activists deem inept and corrupt. “I came down to raise my voice against hunger, poverty and rising prices,” Khaled, a 41-year-old protester, told AFP from Tripoli, adding that he could no longer support his three children since he lost his job selling motorcycle spare parts. – ´Social explosion´

  by Al Jazeera — Beirut, Lebanon – Lebanese authorities have started using forceful measures to try and bring the country’s rapidly sliding national currency under control, as angry citizens block roads and attack banks in protest over rapidly eroding livelihoods. “My salary is now worth $100,” a protester shouted during an attempt to block […]

by rfi.fr — Drilling off the Lebanese coast has shown some traces of gas but no commercially viable reserves, Energy Minister Raymond Ghajar said on Monday. “Initial drilling results showed the presence of gas at different depths in the geological layers” of block 4, he told reporters at a news conference. But around two months […]

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri has warned that removing the central bank governor would send the currency tumbling and threaten deposits, after the prime minister slammed Riad Salameh for the pound’s fall. Prime Minister Hassan Diab on Friday cast Salameh as responsible for a currency crisis that has threatened to further destabilise a country already in dire financial straits. The pound, which has lost more than half its value since October, slid to record lows on a parallel market last week, nearing 4,000 to the dollar before currency dealers on Friday went on strike. The official pegged pound rate of 1,507.5 to the dollar is available only for certain vital imports. In comments carried by Sunday’s An-Nahar newspaper, Berri said Lebanon could not afford to remove Salameh just as it was entering negotiations with foreign bondholders after defaulting on debt obligations last month. “Lebanese will wake up to the price of the dollar at 15,000 pounds,” he said. “I am not defending Salameh or anyone, I am defending Lebanon. And if the central bank of Lebanon does not remain, then everyone knows that depositors’ funds are gone forever.”

The politically influential Maronite Catholic Cardinal patriarch said criticism of Salameh would only hurt Lebanon. “We ask: who benefits from the destabilisation of the central bank governorship?” said Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rai. “We know the dire outcome, which is eliminating the confidence of the Lebanese people and (foreign) states in the constitutional foundations of the state.” Lebanon is governed according to a sectarian system that parcels out state positions according to religious group. The central bank governor is always a Maronite Christian while the premier is always a Sunni Muslim. Diab’s government was formed in January with the support of the powerful Iranian-backed Shi’ite movement Hezbollah, and has struggled to enact the economic reforms demanded by foreign donors.

قال البطريرك مار بشاره بطرس الراعي أثناء القاء عظته في الأحد الثاني بعد القيامة بلبنان، اليوم
“سَارَ يَسُوعُ مَعَهُمَا، واستَمَعَ لَهُمَا، ثُمَّ فَسَّرَ لَهُمَا الكُتُب، فَاضْطَرَمَ قَلْبُهُمَا”، تحت صدمة الصَّلب، غادر تلميذان منهم أورشليم بعد ظهر الأحد عينه، على الرَّغم من تسرُّب خبر قيامة يسوع، وفيما هما يسيران مكتئبَين، ويتحادثان بشأن الحكم عليه بالموت صلبًا، وتحطيم رجاء الشَّعب كلّه،إذا بيسوع الحيّ الدَّائم، يقترب منهما ويَسير معهما. ومن بعد أن استمع لهما، وهما يَسرُدان سبب غمِّهما بشأن صلب يسوع، “الرَّجل النبيّ القدير بالقول والفعل قدَّام الله والشَّعب كلّه” (الآية 19)، راح يفسِّر لهما ما يتعلَّق به في كلِّ الكتب من موسى إلى جميع الأنبياء”. ومن بعد أن عرفاه عند “كسر الخبز” وغاب عنهما، قال الواحد للآخر: أمَا كان قلبُنا مضطرمًا فينا، حين كان يُكلِّمنا في الطَّريق ويشرح لنا الكتب؟ وللحال رجَعَا إلى أورشليم لينقُلا بُشرى قيامته (الآيات 27-32).

by ibtimes.com — Assailants lobbed an explosive device at a bank in Lebanon Saturday, in the latest attack on financial institutions in a country facing its worst economic crisis in decades. The official National News Agency said the night-time assault targeted a branch of Fransabank in the southern port city of Sidon, damaging its glass facade. There were no immediate reports of any casualties. The attack came a day after Prime Minister Hassan Diab said Lebanese bank deposits had plunged $5.7 billion in the first two months of the year, despite curbs on withdrawals and a ban on transfers abroad.

by thearabweekly.com — Samar Kadi —  BEIRUT – Lebanon is bracing for a more painful and restive post-COVID-19 phase marred by social unrest amid deteriorating living conditions, skyrocketing prices and a nosediving devaluation of the Lebanese pound, analysts say. Anti-government protesters have taken to the streets in different parts of Lebanon despite a nationwide lockdown enforced since March 15 to stem the spread of the deadly coronavirus. Protesters blocked highways and gathered in squares and outside the Central Bank in Beirut in defiance of confinement restrictions. In the Bekaa town of Taalabaya, in east Lebanon, the army used force to disperse demonstrators, causing minor injuries to 40 protesters. “There is no doubt that people are full of anger. Recent polls indicated that the percentage of those frustrated with the ruling class is much higher than it was when the anti-government protests first began in October last year,” said political analyst Johnny Mounayar. “More people are getting hungry, losing their income and jobs and the pound continues its downward spiral against the dollar, unabated,” said Mounayar.

by newsweek.com — North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Un missed another national holiday on Saturday, fueling rumors and reports of his health. But U.S. intelligence sees no sign of unusual military activity that would suggest something amiss. “Regional militaries in the Western Pacific and Asia, including those of our partner nations, remain at readiness levels consistent with historical norms,” a senior Pentagon official told Newsweek because they were not authorized to speak on the matter. “We have observed no indications or received any additional information to make a conclusive assessment on the status of North Korean leadership or health of Kim Jong-un,” the official added. “We continue to monitor the situation.”

But Kim Jong Un, believed to be 36 and usually the center of his society, was still nowhere to be seen Saturday as his country commemorated Military Foundation Day. The Stimson Center’s 38 North monitor shared satellite imagery showing that a roughly 820-feet long train has appeared at the North Korean head of state’s compound in the east coast city of Wonsan in recent days. The supreme leader has not appeared in public since his country’s closely-controlled media published photos of him two weeks ago attending aerial exercises and presiding over a politburo meeting of the ruling Korean Workers’ Party Central Committee. His failure to appear days later at Day of the Sun celebrations dedicated to his grandfather, national founder Kim Il Sung, first sparked speculation regarding his well-being that the official told Newsweek may not be unfounded. “With the presence of the train and his absence from two major events, there is certainly credibility to report that KJU is either in a serious health condition or potentially deceased,” the official said. “Since he is perceived as a deity in NK, his death would instantly trigger nationwide indications, so there is potential that the government had delayed an announcement in order to have everything in place to maintain security across the country,” the official added.

by naharnet — Al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri lashed out Friday at Prime Minister Hassan Diab and the rival political parties, accusing them of seeking revenge against “an entire era” while attempting to destroy “the free economic system.” In a strongly-worded statement responding to Diab’s speech earlier in the day, Hariri accused the PM of delivering an “uncalculated” address and declaring a “coup” with a “military language.” “These are dangerous remarks seeking to manipulate people’s sentiments and their social concerns and fear for their livelihood with the aim of distancing himself from the government’s blatant dereliction,” Hariri charged. “This is the phase of revenge against an entire era and they have tasked the premiership with leading the attack,” the ex-PM said. He added: “Bravo, Hassan Diab. You did a good job. Here you are fulfilling their dreams in destroying the free economic system. They are clapping for you at the (presidential) palace.” “How can you ignore the party responsible for half of the public debt through subsidizing electricity and seven years of paralyzing state institutions? How can you not ask about the policies that harmed Lebanon’s Arab and international ties? How can you disregard the responsibilities that should be borne by those practicing a new tutelage over the premiership? Is the central bank governor to blame for all of this?” Hariri asked, addressing Diab.

In his speech, Diab said he is holding Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh responsible for the downward spiral of the national currency, accusing him of pursuing “opaque” policies that sent the pound crashing against the dollar. The government has agreed with Lebanon’s president to hire an independent international auditing company to review the Central Bank’s performance, Diab said. The move, and the premier’s speech, were an indication of a widening rift with the country’s longtime chief financial decision-maker. Diab urged Salameh to speak openly to the public about the financial crisis, hinting that the governor has intentionally engineered the crash of the pound.