‘Maximus’ hotel in Jbeil.

Abi Ghosn Holding, a construction and real estate company, opened Maximus, a five star hotel in Jbeil this summer.

The hotel has a total built-up area of 14,000 square meters (m2). It has 40 rooms ranging in size from 30 to 160 m2.

The hotel includes a luxury restaurant and fast food venue. It has a gym, spa, and indoor and outdoor swimming pools, and facilities for 800-person conferences, and parking for 250 cars.

Abi Ghosn Holding invested $12 million in the project, cr...

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$330 million approved infrastructure loans. Loans finance roads and waste water treatment projects

Parliament has approved three loans, with a total value of $330 million, to finance and execute infrastructure projects, as requested by the Cabinet. Loans will have varying but low interest rates, said Nazih Najem, Chair of Public Work, Transportation, Water, and Energy Parliamentary committee.

The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development will provide the Cabinet a $200 million loan, at a 1.5 percent interest rate. The loan will finance the construction and rehabilitation o...

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$66.3 million interest subsid for housing loans for one yea. Loans granted via the Public Corporation for Housing

Parliament has approved the allocation of LL100 billion ($66.3 million) to subsidize the interest rates of housing loans for one year.

The loans eligible for the subsidies are those that are provided through the state-owned Public Corporation for Housing (PCH) and that target low and middle-income people. Borrowers can expect to pay around 3.74 percent interest. PCH loans have a ceiling of $180,000.

The value of the subsidy corresponds to loans worth some LL1,000 billion ($663 mill...

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e-transaction law approved. Legal framework

Parliament has endorsed an e-transaction law, which governs digital documents and contracts for individuals and businesses. It also covers digital crimes and related penal provisions. Gabriel Deek, Chair of Internet Society Lebanon Chapter (ISOC), said the law brings the country's e-transactions regulations in line with those of other countries.

According to Nabil BouKhalid, Administrator of the local (.lb) Domain Registry, the law regulates digital transactions but does not facilitate th...

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Parliament approves $120 million World Bank loan.

The Parliament ratified $120 million World Bank loan for the health sector.

The low-interest loan will be due within 23 years following a six-year grace period.

The loan is for the implementation of the Health Resilience Project, which aims to give poor citizens and displaced Syrians in Lebanon increased access to quality health services.

Around $77 million will be dedicated for scaling up Primary Health Care capacity in order to meet the growing needs of vulnerable citizen...

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Parliament enacts integrated solid waste management law. Decentralization is among the main principles

The Parliament ratified the Integrated Solid Waste Management law.

The law sets general principles and provisions of the solid waste management sector. The principles include reducing and recycling wastes, sorting from the source, composting, and disposal of the inert waste materials.

The law indicates that after composting, energy resources should be retrieved if the process doesn't cause a negative environmental impact. It says that non-recycled solid waste should be disposed o...

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Castania expands factory.

Castania Nuts, a local roasting company, is expanding its facility in Hsoun, Jbeil. Construction has begun and should end in late 2019.

The plant will increase production capacity to 10,000 tons of nuts per year. Total investment in the project is $7 million.

"Castania's Dekwaneh plant will be closed, after finalizing the whole facility in Hsoun," said Peter Daniel, CEO. The factory is built on 18,000 square meters land plot.

Few additional job opportunities will be creat...

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Human development up and gender gap down. Health and education lead to better quality of life

UNDP's recently published Human Development Index (HDI) shows improvement in economic and social quality of life. This is attributed to an increase in life expectancy at birth, mean years and expected years of schooling; and the increase of gross national income per capita.
"This is the result of the improvement of health care and education systems taking the differences between cities and rural areas into account," said Rania Al Jazairi, the First Social Affairs Officer at the Social Justic...

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SGBL obtains $100 million financing package from EBRD. Funds aim to support SMEs and foreign trade

Société Générale de Banque au Liban (SGBL) said it has signed a deal for a $100 million financing package from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

The package consists of a $50 million credit line which will allow SGBL to provide medium-term funding to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The package also includes a $50 million trade facility that SGBL will use to support the export and import activity of local businesses as part ...

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New online tax calculator for individual taxpayers. Procedures to be carried out via Ministry of Finance website

The Ministry of Finance (MoF) said it has developed an online tax calculator to help individual taxpayers calculate the tax on the income they generate from their participation in partnerships or professions that are subject to income tax.

The MoF said that the application, which is on its website, aims to facilitate tax payment and collection.

The taxable income could be based on deemed profits, lump-sum profits, or real profits.

Taxpayers currently fill paperwork, said Aud...

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Just one-third of coops are active. Generate limited income to the members

There were 1,238 cooperatives registered in the country last year, but just one-third are active, according to a report issued by the International Labour Organization (ILO).

ILO conducted a survey for agricultural and agro-food cooperatives. The sample consisted of 147 cooperatives representing 15 percent of all agro-food and agricultural cooperatives. The majority of the interviewed cooperatives (60 percent) have refused to disclose the turnover value, while 11 percent have stated that ...

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Lump sum tax postponed again. In response to demands by private sector

The lump sum tax on businesses and professionals has been temporarily suspended.

The decision was made following an agreement between the President of the Republic, the caretaker Prime Minister, and caretaker Minister of Finance.

The Ministry of Finance said that taxpayers were asking the authorities to postpone this tax once again, and that he is well aware of the current economic and financial challenges. The government has postponed the levying of this controversial tax since 20...

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Extreme rationing of electricity possible. Local market needs more than 200,000 tons of fuel derivatives

Although Electricité du Liban (EDL) has enough fuel to run its power plants for the next four months, there are questions whether electricity will be drastically rationed once those supplies run out.

Local media reported that EDL will reduce power deliveries to just eight hours per day.

Aurore Feghali, Director General of the Directorate of Oil at the Ministry of Energy and Water, said that fuel supplies for the next four months are adequate. However, she would not address m...

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Biomass plant in Koura.

A biomass factory will start operating in Koura in early 2019. The plant will produce briquettes from pruning residues of olive groves and public forests.

The plant will be operated by the Koura Union of Municipalities with a staff of ten.

Investment in the project is around $900,000, of which $700,000 were funded by the European Union, and the remaining by the Koura Union of Municipalities.

Production capacity of the plant is around 750 tons of briquettes per year, to be p...

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Intra is launching golf course in Roumieh. $200 million project includes hotel

Intra Investment, a company owned by the Central Bank and other shareholders, is planning to develop an 18-hole golf course on a 600,000 square meter plot in Roumieh, Mayor Adel Abi Habib said.

Intra Investment will fund the project, at an estimated cost of $200 million.

"The preliminary studies of the project are complete and we are waiting for the company to set a date to launch the tender," he said. "We will convene with the Governor of Central Bank to decide on a date," he said...

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Half of 3,000 gas stations operating without license. There is one fueling location for each 500 cars

There are more than 3,000 gas stations in the country, or an average of one gas station every 3.5 square kilometers, according to the cover story on oil and gas in the September issue of Lebanon Opportunities Magazine. This translates to around one gas station for each 500 cars.

Coral has the largest number of gas stations, followed by United, Medco, and Total.

The Syndicate of Gas Station Owners estimates the number of unlicensed gas stations to be around 1,500.

To work wit...

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Transmed acquires majority of Turkish food distributor. Ernst & Young, Bank Audi, and Bankmed were intermediaries

Transmed, a distributor of Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), has acquired an 80 percent stake in Demak, a Turkish importer and distributor of food products.

Demak's brand name will change to Transmed Turkey.

"This deal is in line with Transmed's strategy of broadening its presence across the world," said Elias Sahyoun, Finance Director at Transmed.

Ernst & Young, Bank Audi, and Bankmed were the financial consultancies of the deal.

Founded in 1946, Transmed focuses ...

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Alfa launches voice calls through 4G network.

Alfa has launched the first Voice over LTE (VoLTE) service in the country, where its infrastructure allows users to make voice calls using the 4G network rather than 3G or 2G.

Marwan Hayek, Chief Executive Officer at Alfa, managed by Orascom Telecom, said that the service will improve voice calls in terms of quality and speed. VoLTE allows callers to benefit from high definition (HD) voice, and significantly minimize the dial delay or 'call setup time' to approximately 2.5 seconds, an im...

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Central Bank fines banks for housing loan violations. $4.6 million in penalties for 389 infractions

The Central Bank has slapped $4.6 million in fines on banks that did not comply with regulations for granting subsidized housing loans, a statement by the Central Bank said.

"As a result of the ongoing inspection by the Banking Control Commission and Central Bank regarding the housing loan portfolio of a number of banks since 2011 to date, we discovered that some clients and banks did not comply with the right implementation of the articles and provisions of circulars issued by the Centra...

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Inflation shoots to 7.6 percent. Highest rate in five years

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) surged 7.6 percent in July compared with the same month last year, according to the Central Administration of Statistics.

This is the highest inflation level recorded in five years, according to Bank Audi's 'Lebanon Weekly Monitor'.

All categories constituting the CPI basket witnessed an increase in their prices driven by additional taxes, hikes of teachers' salaries, and continuing global rises in oil prices, Credit Libanais said in its latest 'Weekl...

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