In three years, Lebanese grocer Ali Khiami hired six staff, invested in property and funded his children’s university education. Business is booming – thanks to Syrian refugees using U.N. debit cards. Displaced Syrian families in Lebanon are using electronic cards, topped up each month by the United Nations’ World Food ... Read More »
An initiative to boost joint public and private sector projects in Lebanon took a step forward Tuesday with the committee overseeing the bill finalizing a draft. “The administration and Justice Committee finished deliberations on two laws regarding public-private partnerships [PPPs],” the committee’s chair MP Robert Ghanem said after it met ... Read More »
The following security-related incidents took place across the country Wednesday: BEIRUT BANK ROBBED IN BROAD DAYLIGHT Two masked men stormed into a bank in Beirut and stole an estimated $70,000 a security source told The Daily Star. The suspects, one with a handgun, fired once inside the Al Baraka Bank ... Read More »
Finance Minister Ali Hasan Khalil signed a $404 million deal with the World Bank Wednesday to fund projects in the education and transportation sectors. The funding will cover two projects, with $200 million for roads and employment and $204 million for the “Education for All Children” initiative. The deal was ... Read More »
DSL internet service providers (ISPs) and mobile internet service providers welcomed a decree passed by the Cabinet earlier this month that significantly reduces internet tariffs. If the terms so far informally set by Ogero are respected, ISPs will soon be able to provide faster connections and consequently a wide range ... Read More »
Energy Minister Cesar Abi Khalil Tuesday expressed anticipation at discussing the electricity reform plan at Cabinet, set to meet later this week. “The electricity plan will be [discussed] at the Cabinet meeting,” he said following a Change and Reform bloc meeting. “We are committed to providing it to citizens at ... Read More »
GroupMed Holding s.a.l., the owner of Bankmed s.a.l. is pleased to announce a new shareholder, OLT Holding s.a.l. Following the approval of the Central Bank of Lebanon, OLT Holding s.a.l. owned by Mr. Ala Al Khawaja has successfully acquired from Mr. Ayman Hariri a 42.24% ownership stake of the share ... Read More »
Parliament’s Finance and Budget Committee Monday completed the first of two sessions to finalize Lebanon’s 2017 state budget. “We’ve reached Article 50 [of the draft budget], and discussions will continue on this issue and other related topics,” Change and Reform bloc MP Ibrahim Kanaan told the press following the meeting. ... Read More »
Tenants briefly blocked a road in Beirut with burning tires Wednesday after previous protests failed to convince authorities to revoke a controversial rent law. The rally was held in the Mathaf area, causing heavy traffic. In January, Parliament endorsed a rent law that would incrementally increase fees for tenants on ... Read More »
Banks are reporting a huge excess in cash in Lebanese pounds resulting from a swap operation engineered by the Central Bank earlier this year. “The Central Bank purchased around LL10 trillion [$6.6 billion] of Treasury bills and CDs held by commercial banks and paid them in advance the return on ... Read More »
Lebanese Ministry of Information