Finance Minister surprisingly demands the end of support to exports

The Finance Minister, Ali Hassan Khalil, made a surprising statement by demanding an end to the recently launched government subsidized sea export program through the Investment Development Authority of Lebanon IDAL. According to Al Diyar newspaper, Khalil who was intervening during the Lebanese Emigrants Economic Conference held yesterday in Beirut, disclosed the presence of Syrian smuggled goods that were later re-exported as ‘made in Lebanon’ products, noting that this situation negatively impact both the agricultural sector and public finance. For his part, IDAL President, Nabil Itani, rejected but did not categorically deny the Minister’s statement, saying such things are bound to happen in a situation of war and border insecurity. However, he praised the mechanism adopted by IDAL for monitoring exports and shipping through specialized agencies. On the other side, Ibrahim Tarshishi, head of the Farmers’ Association in Beqaa, expressed his total agreement with Khalil and support to ending the subsidized RoRo shipment scheme and his replacement with a more effective arrangement. He alleged that nearly 75% of goods currently present in the Lebanese marker are of Syrian origin “whether we like it or not.” Itani attributed the failure of the government subsidized sea export plan to failures in achieving the following: 1) lowering the price of Lebanese agricultural products to internationally competitive levels; 2) increasing the volume of Lebanese exports, and 3) creating a competitive local shipping market that will ensure best prices and services to exporters and traders. (Al Diyar, December 16, 2015)