News updates

The Minister of Economy and Trade held a meeting last Friday including the Ministry's Director General, Allia Abbase, the Director General of the Office of grains and beets, Hanna al Amil, and a delegation of bakeries owners in Lebanon headed by its president Kathem Ibrahim. The meeting discussed the issue of bread especially given the drop in the cost of fuel and the ensuing decision to increase the weight of a single bread packet from 900 to 950 grams as of today whilst the price will remain set at LBP 1500 per packet.   Following the meeting, Ibrahim called on all bakeries owners to abide by the new decision and ensuring the quality and cleanliness of the bread.  The Minister of Economy and Trade, Alain Hakim, told As Safir newspaper that this agreement which has been in process for a while is based on a study which looked at the impact of the drop in fuel prices on the bakeries sectors and which revealed that the impact is not significant.  Hoever, Hakim added that the Ministry worked with the Syndicate of bakeries to reach this agreement which will be in effect for three months.  

(Source: As-safir 12 January 2015)
 

The Ministry of Labor (MoL), issued a statement last Friday calling on all employers to bear the costs of recruiting foreign workers including paying for work permits and NSSF subscriptions.  The ministry statement reminded employers of the yearly costs which amount to LBP 1,800,000 for category 1, LBP 960,000 for category 2, LBP 480,000 for category three and LBP 240,000 for category 4 in addition to insurance costs and lab tests.  The Ministry also added that Syrian employers and employees only pay 25% of the above charges whilst Palestinian refugees are exempt from work permit fees as per law 129/2010.  Azzi explained that the new procedures to issue entry visas for Syrians or any other foreign national do not waive the need to have work permits.  The statement concludes with a warning that any failure to abide by the above will render employers liable to prosecution according to the laws in force.

(Source: Al-Diyar- Al-Mustaqbal 12 January 2015)


 

The Minister of Industry, Dr. Hussein Hajj Hassan, revealed his intention to introduce new taxes on imported goods especially those subsidized in their country of origin and which are competing with Lebanese goods.  Hajj Hassan was speaking yesterday during his meeting with a delegation of Lebanese and Chinese business people.  Hajj Hassan emphasized that the role of the government and of the private sector is to facilitate exports and not to remove hurdles from imports.  Hajj Hassan reiterated that policies to address the economic crisis should include reciprocity policies and taxing of imports so as to enhance domestic consumption of local products and curtail the deficit in the balance of trade which reaches USD 16.7 billion last year and thus representing one third of GDP which is estimated at USD 45 billion.  Hajj Hassan also pointed out to a number of negative economic indicators, namely the drop in remittances, the current level of the national debt which reached USD 60 billion, and the fall in industrial exports.  He added that Lebanon’s exports have decreased by 9.3% during the last 8 months of 2014 compared with the same period in 2013.  According to the Daily Star who quoted various informed sources, the Ministry of Industry has indeed started two weeks ago to introduce taxes on aluminum so as to support local production.  It is also intending to impose taxes on other goods such as leather, steel, plastic, paper and some food products.  The president of the Industrialists Association, Fady Gemayel, thanked the Minister for introducing these new measures but added that Lebanese industrialists need also to be supported through subsidizing their high cost of energy which makes up 35% of the cost of production.  He also stated that supporting the high energy consuming industries will only cost 30 to 40 million dollars a year, an amount which he considered to be modest when compared with the deficit of the Electricity Public Company which has soared to USD 2 billion a year.  He added that these industries are worth supporting since they provide 7000 work opportunities.

(Source: Daily Star 9 January 2015)

 

As Safir published last Saturday a report on life in the capital city of Beirut which is the main pole of jobs and employment.  The report notes that despite the high cost of living in Beirut in addition to its small surface area, high population, cars and concrete density, many consider it as a good place to live in. The newspaper interviewed a number of people who commute daily to Beirut where they work and return home to their villages and towns in the evening.  According to Halima T., a young Beiruti woman recalls how Aley which is used to be the family’s summer house has now become its permanent residence because of the prohibitive costs in Beirut. For her part, Yara Sh. (37 years old) who commutes daily from Batrun to Beirut to work in one of the capital's health centre considered that living with her family remains a better option than sharing a flat in the city especially since she cannot afford to rent a place on her own.  Roula H. (age 34), a specialist in organising book exhibitions, commutes daily from Jounieh to Sin el Fil and noted that she would have prefered to have better means to allow her to rent her own place next to her place of work but is unable so far to do so.
 (Source: As-Safir 3 December 2015)

 

The current Minister of Finance, Ali Hassan Khalil, indicated that he expected the global drop in oil process to decrease the cost of financing the deficit of Electricité du Liban by USD 400 – 500 million yearly, while the said deficit has now reached LBP 3200 billion.  The fall in oil prices, according to Hassan Khalil, will have positive repercussions on public finance. Hassan Khalil, who was speaking at a Press Conference he convened last Monday to present the mid-term strategy to manage the national debt for 2014 – 2016 as well as to outline the new timetable for issuing LBP bonds, clarified that this strategy aims at putting in place a plan for appropriate management of debt.  He further added that Lebanon is facing several economic challenges as the national economy has had to deal with various threats during the past few years the last of which is the results of the sizeable displacement of the Syrian population into Lebanon in addition to the repercussions of the regional crisis, the situation of tourism and the overall stalemate in the economy.  All this concurred to reduce growth to 1.5-2% in 2014. Hassan Khalil concluded that expectations for 2015 are not very optimistic if the overall situation does not radically change especially since the percentage of debt to GDP in 2014 is still high with 142%.
(Source: Al-Diyar & As-Safir 6 December, 2015)

 

Daily Star newspaper published a report last Wednesday on family businesses in Lebanon.  The report notes that despite the state failure in supporting the private sector in Lebanon, family businesses have distinguished themselves with significant success especially that they have become the key providers of employment opportunities in Lebanon and the region.  Indeed, and according to the President of the Family Businesses Institute at the LAU, Josiane Sreih, 80% of employment opportunities in Lebanon are provided by family businesses.  Sreih further added that these businesses face several challenges namely the absence of state support, choosing an appropriate leader who, according to her, should not be from the family itself, and developing its capacity to be abreast of developments and innovation.
(Source: Daily Star 31 December 2014)

 

Three organizations, namely Jupiter for Tourism Development, Baalbak and its neighborhood, and the Lebanese Environmental Movement, collaborated in implementing a model environmental project in the Lebanese village of Shaat in the Beqaa. Some 40 women activists are involved in this initiative which focuses on gathering and sorting solid waste.  Local task groups were formed in the village and were given simple bags to sort refuse. Women activists created simple tools to press metallic and plastic refuse and agreed with a municipal worker to gather the garbage in a temporary site offered by the Municipality.  In a interview undertaken by As Safir newspaper with some of the activists, Wafaa Hajj Hassan, an owner of a food shop, noted that she used one corner of her shop to store and sort her own solid waste.  Fatmeh Shamas and her sister encouraged their daughters and daughters in law to participate in the project which carries the slogan: “Instead of burning, we sell”.  Fatmeh added that she was able to produce decorative vases from wastes she had sorted and noted that tin can be sold at USD 1,800 per ton!  The Municipal head, Adel Al Ayek, noted for his part his enthusiasm regarding this idea and added that his municipality allocated a space for gathering sorted waste and offered a system to collect it.  He also added that his Municipality is ready to spread this idea amongst students and he also suggested to allocate one day a week for refuse collection and sorting.
(Source: As- Safir 5 January 2015)
 

 

Economic expert, Ghazi Wazen, considered that the economic situation of Lebanon was difficult and grim in 2014 as most economic and financial indicatoes recorded a significant setback.  According to Wazni, the economic priorities for 2015 are first the endorsement of the 2015 budget which ought to include allocations for investments, endorsing the decrees related to oil exploitation of by the Cabinet, incentivizing economic growth, curbing the deficit through controlling mismanagement of expenses and income and making use of the international drop in fuel oil cost to address the problem of electricity, introducing reforms at the level of the public-private partnership and finally containing the displacement crisis and endorsing the law to increase salaries in the public sector.
 
With regards to the 2014 indicators, economic growth continued to deteriorate thus recording less than 1.5% as a result of the negative impact witnessed in tourism, trade and real estate.  Deficit in public finance remained high at 10% despite the fact that Lebanon benefited from the international drop in the cost of fuel oil.  The general public deficit continued to deteriorate and the level of debts to increase compared to the GDP.
 
Tourism continued to witness a setback and the president of the Syndicate of Hotels, Pierre Ashkar, described the situation as being “very difficult”.  Ashkar spoke to As Safir newspaper, noting that that overall income from the sector decreased by 75% compared to 2010.
(Source: As-Safir and Al- Diyar 31 December 2014)