The entrance to the CNSS in Beirut. (Credit: National News Agency)
As of Jan. 1, the Lebanese National Social Security Fund, Caisse Nationale de Sécurité Sociale (CNSS), has decided to increase the amount of family benefits it pays to eligible policyholders. "We have increased them almost tenfold," CNSS Managing Director Mohammad Karaki told L'Orient-Le Jour.
"The measure will be financed via the amount of contributions paid," he added.
The initial decision was published in the Official Gazette on Nov. 30, but was detailed in a press release issued by CNSS on Friday.
For the average eligible family, the new monthly family allowance amounts to a maximum of 2,250,000 Lebanese pounds ($25 at the current market exchange rate of around 89,500 Lebanese pounds to the dollar), i.e. 600,000 Lebanese pounds for the wife ($6.7) and 330,000 Lebanese pounds ($3.7) per child, up to a maximum of five children.
Cab drivers who own their own vehicles are also entitled to increased benefits. The ceiling has been raised to LL1,300,000 ($14.5), with LL500,000 for the wife's account ($5.6) and LL160,000 ($1.8) for each child, for the same maximum.
For cab drivers who do not own their own vehicle, as well as newspaper and magazine vendors, the overall amount is now capped at LL720,000 per month or LL24,000 per day. No distinction is made here according to the insured's family situation.
These amounts remain very low compared with the cost of living in Lebanon and the real value of the pound, which has depreciated by around 98% since the start of the crisis that erupted in 2019. It was not until the 2022 budget was adopted in September of that year, and came into force two months later, that the Lebanese state began to adjust the official exchange rate to market reality. That explains the current level of benefits, especially as contribution amounts have not yet been adjusted to the market rate.
The state has not adopted a budget for 2023, and that for 2024 is currently in the hands of the parliamentary Finance and Budget Committee.
Mohammad Karaki indicated that the law passed in parliament in December to modify the pension schemes financed by the CNSS had been published in the Official Gazette on Thursday.