Banque du Liban headquarters in Beirut. (AFP/Anwar Amro)
As its reserves continue to dwindle, the central bank is reportedly looking into lowering obligatory reserve requirements to free up funds for continued subsidies. An unnamed “official source” told Reuters yesterday that Banque du Liban Gov. Riad Salameh met ministers on Tuesday to discuss an option of “lowering the required reserve ratio from 15 percent to around 12 or 10 percent.” The source said that there are $17.9 billion in foreign exchange reserves at the central bank with only $800 million left for subsidies until the end of the year. Reuters added that no decision has been made yet on allowing the central bank to dip into its required reserves.
COVID-19 infection rates rose again after a brief dip, with 1,636 new cases registered yesterday. Sixteen more people died from the virus, bringing the death toll to 950. With the lockdown set to end on Nov. 30, there has not yet been an official decision on whether it will be extended or what measures will come next. A ministerial committee meeting yesterday on the topic reached no conclusions on the matter, a media advisor of the caretaker health minister told L’Orient Today.
The Economy Ministry and Ghobeiri municipality butted heads over the Iraqi-donated flour reportedly stored in poor conditions at the Sports City stadium. The municipality said its Food and Safety Department assessed that a large portion of the flour at the stadium had become rotten and unusable, adding that the donated foodstuff was stored in humid, unventilated areas near wastewater streams. The Economy Ministry responded that the state-linked Industrial Research Institute found that the flour met health standards. The Iraqi Embassy, for its part, washed its hands of the controversy, saying it had nothing to do with the storage of the gift.
MPs met briefly for a joint committee session to discuss electoral laws for the 2022 parliamentary polls. The proposals by MPs caucusing with the Amal Movement call for the vote to be held across a single national district with no sectarian allotment of seats, while a senate representing the country’s sects would also be created. Parliamentarians from former Premier Najib Mikati’s bloc put forward a proposal aimed to encourage candidates to run electoral campaigns with a wider appeal, rather than ones geared for small constituencies. MPs from the Lebanese Forces and Free Patriotic Movement — the country’s largest Maronite-oriented parties — criticized the laws as attempts to alter sectarian dynamics. Election experts, for their part, viewed the proposals as efforts to bolster support from their bases.
Parliamentary committees will discuss pressing topics on infrastructure and living conditions today. The National Economy, Trade, Industry and Planning Committee meets at 11 a.m. to discuss living conditions of workers. Committee member Ali Darwish told L’Orient Today that the meeting would look into the issues of foodstuff prices and rising unemployment, which he said was hitting “extreme levels.” The Media and Communications Committee is also meeting, with an agenda of Ogero contracts and internet in Lebanon. Committee chair Hussein Hajj Hasan told L’Orient Today the meeting will discuss the consequences of the lira’s sliding value on internet infrastructure. The special committee devoted to a draft public procurement law aimed at overhauling and modernizing public spending will continue its second reading of the bill today as well.