The EDL headquarters in Beirut. (Credit: L'Orient Today/João Sousa)
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Federal Bank on Tuesday dropped its charges against Hamra branch hostage taker Bassam al-Sheikh Hussein, his attorney Rami Ollaik confirmed to L’Orient Today. Hussein was taken into custody by security forces Thursday after he held up the bank for six hours, demanding to make a withdrawal from his funds despite the unofficial capital control measures imposed by commercial banks since the onset of the economic crisis in 2019. Hussein’s relatives and supporters, including depositors’ groups that had rallied outside the bank Thursday and issued statements announcing solidarity with the depositor, held a sit-in Tuesday in front of the Beirut Justice Palace demanding he be “released immediately.” Ollaik added that the hostage taker’s brother received $35,000 of his $210,000 bank deposit.
Banque du Liban increased the proportion of fuel imports covered at the parallel market USD exchange rate to 30 percent, driving fuel prices up. BDL previously rescinded the subsidization of fuel imports completely at the Sayrafa rate and imposed in late July that fuel importers pay for 15 percent of their orders at the parallel market rate and the remainder at the government exchange platform, Sayrafa, rate. The prices of 20-liters of 95- and 98-octane gasoline have increased by LL16,000 to LL568,000 and LL580,000, respectively. The price of diesel increased by LL26,000 to LL663,000. Gas cylinders increased by LL9,000, with each cylinder selling for LL321,000. Head of the Syndicate of Workers and Distributors of Gas in Lebanon Farid Zainoun told local media that the prices “met the union’s demands,” having been calculated using an LL32,000-to-USD exchange rate.
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati discussed the extension of a deal supplying fuel to state electricity provider Electricité du Liban with an Iraqi delegation. Fuel for Lebanon’s state electric utility has been procured through the exchange of Iraqi oil, supplied via a bilateral agreement signed in July 2021 for hydrocarbons compatible with Lebanese power plants. Mikati announced on Thursday the one-year extension of the deal “under the same conditions that were previously followed,” through which Lebanon would receive Iraqi oil in exchange for providing certain services. The Iraqi delegation also met earlier yesterday with caretaker Energy Minister Walid Fayad, who had proposed a tariff increase to finance the deal. Fuel shortages have exacerbated the already limited supply of state electricity, which at best provides a few hours of coverage per day, prompting outrage from citizens forced to rely on costly private generator subscriptions, as EDL alternates between operating the Deir Ammar and Zahrani power plants.
The United Kingdom Ambassador to Lebanon Hamish Cowell called on Lebanese authorities to “deliver urgent reforms” in order to secure an International Monetary Fund deal. “The UK wants to see stability, prosperity and security in Lebanon,” the diplomat added during a meeting with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati. A preliminary agreement signed between the IMF and Lebanon could provide a three billion dollar aid package to the country, provided it meets the donor’s reform criteria. Among IMF demands are the Cabinet and Parliament’s “approval of a bank restructuring strategy”; the “initiation of an externally assisted bank-by-bank evaluation for the 14 largest banks”; “Parliament approval of a reformed bank secrecy law,” enacted during the newly elected MPs’ first legislative session; “completion of the special purpose audit of the BDL’s foreign asset position”; “Parliament approval of the 2022 budget”; and the “unification by BDL of the exchange rates.” Ibrahim Kanaan, the Finance and Budget Parliamentary Committee’s chair announced last week that progress had been made on the last two points. The committee met yesterday and is scheduled to reconvene today and Thursday to further discuss the budget law, Kanaan wrote on Twitter.
In case you missed it, here’s our must-read story from yesterday: “Federal Bank standoff: Should depositors take the law into their own hands?”