BEIRUT: Escalating political confusion sent the Lebanese pound plummeting to a new low on the black market, trading at 90,000 pounds to the dollar on Wednesday.
The latest plunge in the local currency means the exchange rate is more than 60 times lower than the base rate of 1,500 LBP/USD that has been in place for the past three years.
Amid warnings of looming economic chaos, the Finance Ministry set the price of the customs dollar at 45,000 Lebanese pounds so the state treasury could pay public sector salaries.
The ministry pegged the value at 15,000 pounds only a few weeks ago.
Shops and supermarkets also began to price products in dollars on Wednesday.
Economists and political experts predicted the Lebanese pound would drop to 100,000 to the dollar soon.
Meanwhile, a man stormed a Creditbank branch in Sidon, southern Beirut, and threatened to set it ablaze if he was denied access to his savings. The man ended up leaving the bank without getting his money after being assured he would face no criminal charges.
Economist Jassem Ajaka said that “there is no end to the hole the country has slipped into,” adding: “The worst is yet to come and we are drowning in utter chaos due to accumulated mistakes.”
Ajaka said the Finance Ministry had no option but to raise the customs dollar to step up treasury revenues.
Sources told Arab News that the ministry estimated the cost of covering the raises and social aid allowances that were added to public sector salaries at 8,000 billion Lebanese pounds.
“The country suffers from a large deficit, and increasing revenues is one of the International Monetary Fund’s demands,” he said.
“After raising the customs dollar and dollarizing the economy, the issue lies with controlling market prices in the absence of effective state institutions. Immense chaos awaits.”
Economic observers believe if the political class remained inactive, financial, economic and banking breakdown was inevitable.
With the local currency plunging and the prices of commodities and foodstuffs increasing by the minute, the Finance Ministry was fiercely criticized for its decision to raise the customs dollars, a step that is likely to drastically reduce people’s purchasing power.
Hani Bohsali, head of the Food Importers Syndicate, said the decision was surprising and would increase the prices of essential commodities by 2-10 percent.
“Even if oils and grains are exempt from customs fee increases, their prices will rise as the local currency drops.”
Tripoli MP Ashraf Rifi warned that the local currency depreciation could result in a real catastrophe with devastating repercussions.
“The Lebanese have become victims of an economic massacre,” he said. “The ruling authority and Hezbollah need to go before we can start reforming what this system destroyed.”
The Council of Maronite Bishops convened on Wednesday and appealed to the caretaker government to discharge its duties wisely and avoid any action that would aggravate the situation.
The council expressed concerns over security and called on law enforcement agencies to tighten measures.
‘Economic massacre’: Lebanon dollarizes economy as pound plunges
https://arab.news/6bgmk
‘Economic massacre’: Lebanon dollarizes economy as pound plunges
- Amid warnings of looming economic chaos, the Finance Ministry set the price of the customs dollar at 45,000 Lebanese pounds
- The ministry pegged the value at 15,000 pounds only a few weeks ago
Israel’s attorney general tells Netanyahu to reexamine extremist security minister’s role
- National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir criticized for interfering in police matters
JERUSALEM, Nov 14 : Israel’s Attorney General told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reevaluate the tenure of his far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, citing his apparent interference in police matters, Israel’s Channel 12 reported on Thursday.
The news channel published a copy of a letter written by Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara in which she described instances of “illegitimate interventions” in which Ben-Gvir, who is tasked with setting general policy, gave operational instructions that threaten the police’s apolitical status.
“The concern is that the government’s silence will be interpreted as support for the minister’s behavior,” the letter said.
Officials at the Justice Ministry could not be reached for comment and there was no immediate comment from Netanyahu’s office.
Ben-Gvir, who heads a small ultra-nationalist party in Netanyahu’s coalition, wrote on social media after the letter was published: “The attempted coup by (the Attorney General) has begun. The only dismissal that needs to happen is that of the Attorney General.”
Israeli forces demolish Palestinian Al-Bustan community center in Jerusalem
- Al-Bustan Association functioned as a primary community center in which Silwan’s youth and families ran cultural and social activities
LONDON: Israeli forces demolished the office of the Palestinian Al-Bustan Association in occupied East Jerusalem’s neighborhood of Silwan, whose residents are under threat of Israeli eviction orders.
The Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Culture condemned on Thursday the demolition of Al-Bustan by Israeli bulldozers and a military police force.
The ministry said that “(Israeli) occupation’s arrogant practices against cultural and community institutions in Palestine, and specifically in Jerusalem, are targeting the Palestinian identity, in an attempt to obliterate it.”
Founded in 2004, the Al-Bustan Association functioned as a primary community center in which Silwan’s youth and families ran cultural and social activities alongside hosting meetings for diplomatic delegations and Western journalists who came to learn about controversial Israeli policies in the area.
Al-Bustan said in a statement that it served 1,500 people in Silwan, most of them children, who enrolled in educational, cultural and artistic workshops. In addition to the Al-Bustan office, Israeli forces also demolished a home in the neighborhood belonging to the Al-Qadi family.
Located less than a mile from Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem’s southern ancient wall, Silwan has a population of 65,000 Palestinians, some of them under threat of Israeli eviction orders.
In past years, Israeli authorities have been carrying out archaeological digging under Palestinian homes in Silwan, resulting in damage to these buildings, in search of the three-millennial “City of David.”
Israeli strike kills 12 after hitting civil defense center in Lebanon’s Baalbek, governor tells Reuters
- Eight others, including five women, were also killed and 27 wounded in another Israeli attack
CAIRO: An Israeli strike killed 12 people after it hit a civil defense center in Lebanon’s city of Baalbek on Thursday, the regional governor told Reuters adding that rescue operations were ongoing.
Eight others, including five women, were also killed and 27 wounded in another Israeli attack on the Lebanese city, health ministry reported on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Lebanese civil defense official Samir Chakia said: “The Civil Defense Center in Baalbek has been targeted, five Civil Defense rescuers were killed.”
Bachir Khodr the regional governor said more than 20 rescuers had been at the facility at the time of the strike.
‘A symbol of resilience’ — workers in Iraq complete reconstruction of famous Mosul minaret
- Workers complete reconstruction of 12th-century minaret of Al-Nuri Mosque
- Tower and mosque were blown by Daesh extremists in 2017
High above the narrow streets and low-rise buildings of Mosul’s old city, beaming workers hoist an Iraqi flag into the sky atop one of the nation’s most famous symbols of resilience.
Perched precariously on scaffolding in high-vis jackets and hard hats, the workers celebrate a milestone in Iraq’s recovery from the traumatic destruction and bloodshed that once engulfed the city.
On Wednesday, the workers placed the last brick that marked the completed reconstruction of the 12th-century minaret of Al-Nuri Mosque. The landmark was destroyed by Daesh in June 2017 shortly before Iraqi forces drove the extremist group from the city.
Known as Al-Hadba, or “the hunchback,” the 45-meter-tall minaret, which famously leant to one side, dominated the Mosul skyline for centuries. The tower has been painstakingly rebuilt as part of a UNESCO project, matching the traditional stone and brick masonry and incorporating the famous lean.
“Today UNESCO celebrates a landmark achievement,” the UN cultural agency’s Iraq office said. “The completion of the shaft of the Al-Hadba Minaret marks a new milestone in the revival of the city, with and for the people of Mosul.
“UNESCO is grateful for the incredible teamwork that made this vision a reality. Together, we’ve created a powerful symbol of resilience, a true testament to international cooperation. Thank you to everyone involved in this journey.”
The restoration of the mosque is part of UNESCO’s Revive the Spirit of Mosul project, which includes the rebuilding of two churches and other historic sites. The UAE donated $50 million to the project and UNESCO said that the overall Al-Nuri Mosque complex restoration will be finished by the end of the year.
UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay celebrated the completion of the minaret by posting “We did it!” on social media site X.
She thanked donors, national and local authorities in Iraq and the experts and professionals, “many of whom are Moslawis,” who worked to rebuild the minaret.
“Can’t wait to return to Mosul to celebrate the full completion of our work,” she said.
The Al-Nuri mosque was built in the second half of the 12th century by the Seljuk ruler Nur Al-Din.
After Daesh seized control of large parts of Iraq in 2014, the group’s leader, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, declared the establishment of its so-called caliphate from inside the mosque.
Three years later, the extremists detonated explosives to destroy the mosque and minaret as Iraqi forces battled to expel them from the city. Thousands of civilians were killed in the fighting and much of Mosul was left in ruins.
US hands Lebanon draft truce proposal -two political sources
- The US has sought to broker a ceasefire that would end hostilities between its ally Israel and Hezbollah
BEIRUT: The US ambassador to Lebanon submitted a draft truce proposal to Lebanon’s speaker of parliament Nabih Berri on Thursday to halt fighting between armed group Hezbollah and Israel, two political sources told Reuters, without revealing details.
The US has sought to broker a ceasefire that would end hostilities between its ally Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, but efforts have yet to yield a result. Israel launched a stepped-up air and ground campaign in late September after cross-border clashes in parallel with the Gaza war.
