This Is Beirut 2024-02-05 17:29 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
In a letter sent to employees on Monday, the union of cell phone operators Alfa and Touch announced "a complete work stoppage starting this afternoon." It demanded that employees' salaries be adjusted and paid in full in fresh dollars and that the collective labor agreement be signed. The union pointed out that negotiations have been going on for ...
This Is Beirut 2024-02-04 20:35 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
President of the Association of Petroleum Importing Companies Maroun Chammas reassured people that "gasoline is available," in response to citizens' fears of gas stations' rationing. However, in an interview on Sunday with local channel MTV, Chammas warned that events in the Red Sea could affect Lebanon, "where we could see an increase in fuel ...
This Is Beirut 2024-02-03 14:18 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
The acting governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon (BDL), Wassim Mansouri, communicated on Saturday the amendments made to Circular 151 through a new circular, Circular 166. Following Friday's meeting of the BDL Central Council, Mansouri announced two decisions concerning the repayment of foreign currency deposits and the conversion of foreign ...
Liliane Mokbel 2024-02-03 11:57 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
On Friday, Mohamad Karaki, the Director-General of the National Social Security Fund (NSSF), made a pivotal decision to set the exchange rate at 89,500 Lebanese pounds per one dollar for calculating contributions from NSSF members who receive their salaries, either in full or in part, in foreign currencies. This adjustment becomes effective as of ...
Maurice Matta 2024-02-02 12:07 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
All eyes are on the meeting of the Central Council of the Banque du Liban, scheduled for today, led by the vice-governor Wassim Mansouri, alongside council members. The agenda for this meeting, initially set for Wednesday and rescheduled due to some members' travel, includes the amendment of Circular 151 after extensive weeks of discussions and ...
2024-02-01 23:38 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Twenty-four hours after the Association of Oil Importing Companies declared the suspension of fuel deliveries in protest against the 10% exceptional tax levied on businesses benefiting from the subsidy policy introduced by the state in 2020 and 2021, a solution seems to be looming on the horizon. The president of the association, Maroun Chammas, ...
2024-02-01 22:32 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Wassim Mansouri, the Central Bank's (BDL) Acting Governor, will set off to Riyadh on Monday upon a special invitation to participate in a conference on regional financial stability. But before he leaves, he is scheduled to finalize, on Friday, the details of a new directive with BDL’s Central Council. This directive allows depositors who were ...
Liliane Mokbel 2024-02-01 19:36 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
The destiny of the Finance Law remains uncertain. Every budgetary article voted by Parliament is subject to invalidation appeal before the Constitutional Council once the text is promulgated and published in the Official Gazette. Before the final version of the 2024 budget was released, an outcry erupted over an article that was introduced during ...
2024-01-31 23:11 - Reading : 5 minute(s)
A 10% "extraordinary tax" imposed on businesses benefiting from the government's subsidy policy, introduced at the last minute into the 2024 budget, sparked widespread anger. Unions and economic organizations alike denounce it as an arbitrary and, mostly, “unfair” penalty. After oil-importing companies suspended fuel deliveries since ...
2024-01-31 15:09 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
Fuel importing companies will hold a press conference on Wednesday at 3 PM to explain the reasons behind the decision taken on the previous day to suspend the delivery of gasoline, diesel and gas starting the following day. They contest the "exceptional tax" of 10% imposed on the total turnover of oil importing companies over a period of two ...
This Is Beirut 2024-01-31 14:56 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
The purchase of property by foreigners has seen a slight increase in recent years, despite Lebanon's current crisis, according to data from the General Directorate of land registry. Information International, a Beirut-based research consultancy, notes that the area owned by non-Lebanese was 38,677,856 m² at the end of 2019. By the end of 2023, ...
This Is Beirut 2024-01-31 14:54 - Reading : less than a minute
The Union of Private Hospitals called on oil-importing companies to exempt hospitals from their decision to suspend fuel deliveries. In a statement published on Wednesday, it called on the companies to "immediately supply them with fuel, in order to preserve patients' lives." The union also warned of "the serious repercussions of this decision ...