Protesters block streets in Beirut on Feb. 17, 2026, in opposition to the government’s fiscal measures. (Credit: Moe Yassine)
BEIRUT — The government’s decision to raise public-sector wages, alongside new measures to finance the increase, has triggered renewed street protests and raised concerns among experts, particularly over its impact on low-income households.The plan adopted by the Cabinet provides for granting the equivalent of six additional months of salary to civil servants, military personnel, and retirees, capped at 50 million Lebanese Lira per month (around $560), and makes this measure conditional on a series of fiscal measures.Not ‘repeating the mistakes of the past’The pay increase is intended to address long-standing demands from public-sector employees, whose wages were eroded by the more than a 98 percent collapse of the national currency and who did not benefit from catch-up adjustments comparable to those in the private sector. More on...
BEIRUT — The government’s decision to raise public-sector wages, alongside new measures to finance the increase, has triggered renewed street protests and raised concerns among experts, particularly over its impact on low-income households.The plan adopted by the Cabinet provides for granting the equivalent of six additional months of salary to civil servants, military personnel, and retirees, capped at 50 million Lebanese Lira per month (around $560), and makes this measure conditional on a series of fiscal measures.Not ‘repeating the mistakes of the past’The pay increase is intended to address long-standing demands from public-sector employees, whose wages were eroded by the more than a 98 percent collapse of the national currency and who did not benefit from catch-up adjustments comparable to those in the private sector. ...
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