Man fishing on the shore of Amchit. (Credit: SB).
-In the wake of the cease-fire reached between Hezbollah and Israel, which took effect at dawn on Wednesday, Nov. 27, several airlines have announced their intentions to resume flights to Rafik Hariri International Airport (RHIA). These flights had been suspended in September when Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon escalated.
Airlines confirming December flight resumes include: Royal Jordanian, Turkish Airlines, Ethiopian Airlines, and Qatar Airways.
-Since the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Sept. 27 and the toppling of Assad’s regime on Dec. 8, investors have developed a particular interest in Lebanon’s defaulted Eurobonds – a debt security issued in a currency other than Lebanon’s local currency – causing those to rally and jump from 6.2 cents to over 11 cents on the dollar since the end of September.
In a report issued to investors on Dec. 2 and reviewed by L’Orient Today, U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs – which is said to have been massively buying Lebanese Eurobonds – projected the recovery value of these dollar-denominated debt securities to average 24.6 on the dollar in a “base-case restructuring” scenario, or one that it believes has the highest probability of occurring.
- One month after reaching its lowest level in nearly two years, the Lebanese Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) showed a slight recovery in November, rising by more than three points to 48.1.
Lebanon’s PMI score is “good news,” as it shows that the economy was able to steady itself somewhat after the severe slump in October, driven by signs of recovery in exports and in domestic demand.
-Caretaker Energy and Water Minister Walid Fayyad called on Arab countries to contribute to financing the rehabilitation and repair of Lebanon's electricity sector, which was already on its last legs before the Hezbollah-Israel war destroyed part of the country's distribution network.
He also estimated the cost of destruction in the electricity sector at around $200 million: $75 million for the transmission network (high/medium voltage) and $125 million for the distribution network (medium/low voltage), adding that revenue loss amounted to approximately $135 million due to the suspension of collection operations.
-The prices of all fuels in Lebanon fell on Tuesday, according to the latest list published by the Energy Ministry.
Here are the new rates:
