Tag: IMF loan

Mikati reshuffle includes energy portfolio

The line-up submitted by PM-designate Najib Mikati to President Michel Aoun on Wednesday contained changes to five to six ministerial portfolios from the current government, including the energy portfolio, TV networks said. “Mikati proposed a specialist who is not close to the Free Patriotic Movement for the energy and water portfolio,” MTV reported. He also […]

Mikati ready to resume post as Lebanon PM

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati has signaled that he is willing to be re-appointed to his post, in the first such stance since the parliamentary elections. In remarks at a university graduation ceremony in Tripoli, Miqati called for speeding up the designation of a new premier, warning that Lebanon no longer has the “luxury of […]

Beirut prosecutor narrowly escaped Riad Salameh lawsuit

Beirut Public Prosecutor Ziad Abu Haidar recused himself Monday from looking into Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh's lawsuit, media reports said. Lebanon had opened a probe into Salameh's wealth last year, after the office of Switzerland's top prosecutor requested assistance in an investigation into more than $300 million which he allegedly embezzled out of the […]

BREAKING NEWS - Nasrallah makes firey speech defending resistance weapons

Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Wednesday cautioned rivals anew that their top concern should be the country’s economic and financial collapse, not his group’s controversial arsenal of weapons. “Since 1982, Hizbullah and the resistance have never been stronger -- militarily, politically and popularly… Do not err in evaluation and interpretation nor in taking the […]

Macron, MBS want structural reform in Lebanon

Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and French President Emmanuel Macron have reiterated their call for "structural reforms" in Lebanon. "They reaffirmed the need to implement the structural reforms necessary for the country's recovery, as expected by the Lebanese population and the international community," the French presidency announced after a telephone […]

Lebanese rescue plan goes after central bank debt, weak banks

Lebanon's government foresees cancelling "a large part" of the Central Bank's foreign currency obligations to commercial banks and dissolving non-viable banks by November, according to a financial recovery plan passed by the cabinet on Friday. The document, seen by Reuters and verified as accurate by a minister, was passed by cabinet in its final session […]

Hassan Nasrallah admits defeat but says no majority evident

The leader of Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah acknowledged his party and its allies had lost their parliamentary majority in elections but said no single group had taken it, in his first televised speech since Sunday's election "Unlike the situation in parliament in 2018, no political group can claim a majority," he said. Hezbollah […]

Early results says Hezbollah allies do badly in election

Iran-backed Hezbollah has been dealt a blow in Lebanon's parliamentary election with preliminary results showing losses for some of its oldest allies and the Saudi-aligned Lebanese Forces party saying it had gained seats. With votes still being counted, the final make-up of the 128-member parliament has yet to emerge. The heavily armed Shi'ite Muslim group […]

Lebanese protest bank, politics corruption with mock hybrid currency

Lebanese activists Friday rolled out mock banknotes featuring paintings of a gutted central bank or the Beirut port explosion to denounce high-level corruption that has helped to wreck the country. The collapse of the Lebanese pound and frozen bank accounts have left Lebanon with a confusing currency system, with a multitude of exchange rates applying […]

UN report accuses Lebanese central bank of human rights violations

Lebanon's government and its central bank have committed human rights violations by impoverishing people through the "callous destruction" of the country's economy, an independent United Nations report said on Wednesday. Lebanon's economic implosion has seen the local currency lose more than 90% of its value, food prices rise 11-fold and more than three-quarters of the […]

Experts fear Hezbollah win with Hariri vacuum

The stakes are high in Lebanon's election. The heavily armed Hezbollah movement has seen one of its main rivals descend into disarray, handing it an opportunity to cement power over a divided country that's sinking into poverty. Abdallah al-Rahman will not be casting a ballot, though. "I won't vote for anyone," said the wiry-haired sculptor […]

Lebanon on brink of World Bank $150 million food loan

Lebanon is close to reaching an agreement with the World Bank in which the international agency would give the crisis-hit country a $150 million loan for food security and to stabilize bread prices for the next six months, the economy minister said Tuesday. Amin Salam said talks with the International Monetary Fund were progressing in […]

Riad Salameh's brother to make bail despite appeals

The Mount Lebanon accusatory body led by Judge Pierre Francis on Tuesday approved a ruling to release Raja Salameh from jail, dismissing an appeal filed by Mt. Lebanon Prosecutor Judge Ghada Aoun. The accusatory body also agreed to slash the bail value from LBP 500 billion to LBP 200 billion. Salameh's lawyer had recently said […]

Mikati meeting possible replacements to central bank chief

Prime Minister Najib Miqati met in the past days with a number of potential candidates for replacing embattled Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh, who is facing a host of lawsuits inside and outside Lebanon, a media report said on Friday. The latest European measures against Salameh and some associates are what pushed Miqati to consider […]

IMF in 2-week crisis meeting with Lebanon

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation kicked off talks in Beirut Wednesday as part of a two-week mission aimed at securing progress towards funding for crisis-hit Lebanon. The government is hoping to secure a rescue package to exit a deep financial crisis that started in 2019 and has seen most of the country's population fall […]

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