A market in Tripoli, Lebanon. (Credit: João Sousa/L'Orient Today/File photo)
The Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), which measures the direction of economic trends in manufacturing and is published by BlomInvest and Markit, recorded a slight, rather negligible decline. This small drop comes amid continued economic crisis and security uncertainties linked to the war on Gaza and its spillover into southern Lebanon.
The latest PMI index, published monthly by BlomInvest and Markit, scored 49.1 points on Tuesday, slightly lower than the PMI in January and still fairly close to 50, which represents the equilibrium point — that is, a lack of change. It remains higher than its level at the end of December and slightly below its average for 2023 (49.2 points).
Specifications are under preparation for tenders to rehabilitate Beirut’s port, destroyed in the Aug. 4, 2020 explosion, Transport Minister Ali Hamieh said on Thursday.
Rehabilitation of the port area could cost between $50 million and $100 million and could be achieved in three to four years, according to François Sporrer, head of the regional economic office for the Middle East at the French Embassy.
The Constitutional Council (CC) decided on Thursday to suspend nine articles of the 2024 budget law, following appeals for invalidation submitted on Feb. 26 by MPs from the Kataeb, the Renewal parliamentary bloc and the Forces of Change parliamentary bloc.
The prices of gasoline, diesel for vehicles and heating oil fell slightly on Friday, while the price of a domestic gas cylinder remained the same.
Here are the latest prices:
- 20 liters of 95-octane gasoline: LL1,662,000 (down LL 1,000).
- 20 liters of 98 octane gasoline: LL1,700,000 (down LL 1,000).
- 20 liters of diesel (for vehicles): LL1,571,000 (down LL 23,000).
- Domestic gas cylinder: LL946,000 (unchanged).
- Kiloliter of fuel oil (used to power private electric generators): $814.74 (down $12.59).