Medicines stored in importers’ warehouses should start to appear on pharmacies’ shelves after BDL agreed to settle $180 million in outstanding invoices for the subsidized products. (Credit: Joseph Eid/AFP)
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Sorely needed medical supplies are expected to be distributed today after the central bank agreed to settle $180 million in invoices for subsidized goods that are being held in importers’ warehouses, the Health Ministry announced. Earlier in the day, caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hassan had lambasted Banque du Liban for delaying payments to importers of medicines, medical equipment and baby formula, which he said had led to stockpiling at warehouses and shortages at hospitals and pharmacies as the importers awaited payment. While this payment, if it happens, will prove a temporary salve to current drug and medical supply shortages, BDL yesterday for the first time formally acknowledged the real state of its finances, saying that it has insufficient funds to pay every invoice for subsidized medical imports — a total of $1.31 billion so far this year — without dipping into its mandatory reserves. Reinforcing the repeatedly made pledge of its governor, Riad Salameh, to avoid using these funds, the bank added that it refuses to dip into the reserves to honor outstanding invoices — raising concerns over Lebanon’s already overburdened and under-resourced health sector.
Lebanon’s electricity woes may ease slightly in the coming weeks after the caretaker finance minister signed off on a LL90 billion treasury advance to the state electricity utility, Finance Ministry and EDL sources told L’Orient Today. Ghazi Wazni green-lit the payment after the Constitutional Council lifted a temporary suspension on a law granting a $200 million treasury advance to EDL. The central bank must now release the amount in dollars at the official exchange rate of LL1,507.5 so that EDL can import fuel to run its power plants — but BDL’s compliance is not guaranteed given the central bank’s hesitancy to dip into its dwindling currency reserves.
Videos on social media of a prominent lawyer’s forceful arrest have sparked concern that Lebanon is “sliding into a police state.” Rami Ollaik, the founder of the anticorruption alliance United for Lebanon, was seized and handcuffed by plain clothes security forces outside his office in Beirut’s Adlieh area after refusing to appear for questioning over a defamation accusation filed by Public Prosecutor Ghassan Oueidat. Ollaik had written several tweets implicitly accusing Oueidat of failing to investigate rampant corruption. In an emergency meeting called to discuss the case, the Beirut Bar Association said Ollaik’s arrest violated a law stipulating that the security forces inform the bar’s head before initiating legal procedures against lawyers. The association called for a protest to be held today in support of Ollaik.
More than a month after going missing in Saudi Arabia, the Lebanese composer Samir Sfeir returned to Lebanon yesterday. Upon his return, Sfeir said he had been held in solitary confinement for more than 50 days and questioned over his relationship with President Michel Aoun and links to Hezbollah militants, describing his detention as “political.” The composer, who in the past has written tweets both in support of Aoun and critical of the kingdom, said he would stick to music from now on.
The Health Ministry is holding walk-in COVID-19 vaccination clinics on Saturday for anyone aged 30–65. Twenty-four hospitals across the country are taking part in the ministry’s AstraZeneca vaccination drive in an attempt to boost immunization, as less than 10 percent of the adult population has received a COVID-19 vaccine dose so far. A list of participating hospitals can be found here.
