France satisfied with infrastructure program. Skepticism among CEDRE’s donors has risen but they remain ready to help

French President Emmanuel Macron is satisfied with Lebanon's progress on starting an infrastructure investment program, said the office of Prime Minister Saad Hariri, following a phone conversation between the two leaders.

This statement came after Pierre Duquesne, a French envoy representing donors of the CEDRE conference, said that the Lebanese authorities need to speed up reforms, pass the 2020 budget this year, and set the priorities for the 250 infrastructure projects that will be fi...

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Over 300 new real estate projects. Mazraa the best performing region

Since 2018 more than 300 real estate residential building projects have been launched. In 2018 there were 263 new projects underway and 51 have been launched in the first six months this year, according to 'Still Building Apartments', an article published in the September issue of Lebanon Opportunities.

The projects tend to be smaller than in previous years in terms of both the number of units and their size. Around 80 percent of the new projects launched since 2018 are of less than 25 un...

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$1.3 billion in subscriptions to investment funds in 2018.

Subscriptions to local and foreign investment funds dropped by $371 million, or 22 percent, to $1.32 billion in 2018 compared with the previous year, according to the Annual Report of the Capital Markets Authority (CMA).

The number of subscribers fell by 12 percent, to around 8,100 subscribers.

The number of the funds, also known as collective investment schemes (CISs), increased 24 percent, to 651 CISs.

Subscriptions to local funds plunged by $259 million, or 33 percent, ...

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Dehydrated chips factory to open in Jezzine.

Agro Food Industries, Trading, and Technologies (Agrofitt) will open a chips factory in Al Bayader, Jezzine late this month.

Agrofitt will produce a diversified line of dehydrated chips from several types of fruits and vegetables, starting with apples and bananas. There will be several flavors from each product.

The company in collaboration with Saint Joseph University (USJ) has worked on developing the products. "All the experimental tests of the products were conducted in the u...

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Green industrial incubator opened in Roumieh. Project capable for 40 green start-ups and small enterprises

Fondation Diane has launched 'Raymondo' a green industrial incubator in the industrial zone of Roumieh.

Raymondo has a total built-up area of 3,000 square meters (m2), which can fit up to 40 start-ups. "The project will be a platform for start-ups who have creative eco-friendly industrial ideas that can be developed," said Lara Blake, Operation Director at Fondation Diane.

The incubator will also comprise a research and development space and basic equipment and machinery that can...

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State of Economic Emergency declared by political parties. Decisions include cutting deficit and selling part of public companies

Top State officials and political and financial leaders have agreed on the broad lines of a three-year economic emergency plan that aims to reduce the fiscal deficit and speed up the implementation of capital investment projects, according to Prime Minister Saad Hariri.

The leaders have approved a medium-term fiscal framework over the three-year period 2020-2022 that aims to achieve an annual primary budget surplus of at least three percent, four percent, and five percent of GDP over each...

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Central Bank’s gold reserves jump 26 percent in 12 months. Improvement driven by surge in global prices

The value of the gold reserves held by the Central Bank (BDL) surged 26 percent to $13.9 billion by mid-August 2019 compared with a year earlier driven by a sharp rise in global gold prices, according to BDL data.



The spot price of an ounce of gold jumped to $1,520.40 on August 15, from $1,178.3 a year earlier, according to the London Metal Exchange. The ...

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Deposits are secure at Jammal Trust Bank. Liquidity is available to meet the needs of legitimate accounts

All lawful deposits with Jammal Trust Bank (JTB) remain secure until their maturity date and liquidity is available to meet the needs of the bank's legitimate depositors, said Riad Salameh, Governor of the Central Bank (BDL).

Salameh's statement came following an announcement by the U.S. Department of the Treasury that its Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned JTB, alleging that it knowingly facilitated banking activities for Hezbollah.

JTB said: "In the days to co...

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Central Bank’s reserves up $1.4 billion in two weeks. Growth comes from non-resident private sector depositors

The foreign exchange reserves of the Central Bank (BDL), excluding gold, increased by nearly $1.4 billion during the second half of August to reach $38.7 billion at the end of the month, according to Riad Salameh, Governor of BDL.

This increase is due to the influx of deposits from the non-resident private sector directly to BDL and not the result of deposits by any foreign state or any international entity, he said.

This reflects depositor confidence, strengthens the stability of ...

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Bidding for wind farm tender to launch by end of September.

The Ministry of Energy and Water (MEW) is scheduled to deliver on Sept. 27 the request for proposal (RFP) documents to companies and consortiums that have submitted their expression of interest (EOI) for the second round of bidding for wind farm projects, said Pierre El Khoury Director General of the Lebanese Center for Energy Conservation (LCEC).

The projects involve building and operating wind farms across the country to generate 500 megawatt (MW) of electricity, Khoury said.

The...

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Bidding for wind farm tender to launch by end of September.

The Ministry of Energy and Water (MEW) is scheduled to deliver on Sept. 27 the request for proposal (RFP) documents to companies and consortiums that have submitted their expression of interest (EOI) for the second round of bidding for wind farm projects, said Pierre El Khoury Director General of the Lebanese Center for Energy Conservation (LCEC).

The projects involve building and operating wind farms across the country to generate 500 megawatt (MW) of electricity, Khoury said.

The...

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Bidding for wind farm tender to launch by end of September.

The Ministry of Energy and Water (MEW) is scheduled to deliver on Sept. 27 the request for proposal (RFP) documents to companies and consortiums that have submitted their expression of interest (EOI) for the second round of bidding for wind farm projects, said Pierre El Khoury Director General of the Lebanese Center for Energy Conservation (LCEC).

The projects involve building and operating wind farms across the country to generate 500 megawatt (MW) of electricity, Khoury said.

The...

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Public parking in Mufti Hassan Khaled Public Park.

Work on building a public parking lot below the Mufti Hassan Khaled Public Park project in Talet Al Khayat has started.

The project aims to build a parking lot of four underground levels which will accommodate 440 cars, in addition to 69 above ground parking areas. The park will undergo a rehabilitation process, as the uprooted trees will be replanted, according to the Beirut Municipality.

The demolition work in the park commenced last week.

Supervised by the Council of D...

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IDAL exempts IT firms from NSSF fees. Up to 15 employees per company eligible

Telecom and IT companies that qualify for incentives from the Investment and Development Authority in Lebanon (IDAL), can become exempt from paying employee subscription fees to the National Social Security Fund (NSSF).

IDAL will pay the NSSF subscription fees for up to 15 employees per company.

IDAL has prepared the implementation decree and referred it to the Cabinet. The law will come into effect once it is signed.

IT and telecom companies that are expanding their busin...

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Public wages soar 18 percent to $6.4 billion.

The State's total personnel cost including social benefits, retirement and end of service indemnities, surged by 18 percent in 2018 to $6.4 billion, according to the Ministry of Finance (MoF).

The cost grew by a compound annual growth rate of 8.4 percent over the period 2011-2018.

The $1 billion jump in costs seen in 2018 was mainly driven by the new salary scale granted to public sector employees in August 2017 and which took full effect in 2018. The salary scale only had a partia...

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Jounieh Highway expansion starting. The project will finish in 30 months

The expansion of Jounieh Highway will start before the end of the year, according to Ramzi Salman, CEO of Société D'Entreprises Abdul Rahman Hourie, the company which won the tender along with Consolidated Engineering and Trading (CET).

The highway will be expanded to new width of 50 meters. It will include three lanes plus one safety lane in each direction. It will cover 10.5 km of the highway from Nahr El Kalb to Tabarja.

The cost of the project is EUR48 million (...

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Restaurateurs’ eyes are on Mina El Hosn. Ten restaurants opened recently and more to come

Mina El Hosn has seen the opening of more than ten premium dining restaurants in the last three years, including both Lebanese and European cuisines, according to 'The party has moved to downtown', a cover story published in the August issue of Lebanon Opportunities.

Boubess Group, a company behind several F&B concepts, has paved the way for a number of chains to tap into the area. It has opened two outlets under the brands Cucina and Métropole in Mina El Hosn.

Other restau...

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Industrial raw materials exempted from Customs hike. Council of Ministers needs to approve list of exempted products

The Higher Council of Customs, following the Ministry of Finance's circular, issued a decision that exempts industrial and agricultural raw materials from the three percent custom duty, which was recently imposed in 2019 budget.

According to this decision, industrialists who can provide an industrial license issued by the Ministry of Industry are exempted from paying the newly introduced custom fees.

The three percent customs duty was recently approved in the 2019 budget, on impor...

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85 percent cuts on overdue tax fines. Repayment by installment is allowed

Taxpayers can benefit from an 85-percent cut on fines imposed on unpaid taxes provided they settle the overdue taxes and the related reduced fines by the end of the current year, according to the 2019 budget law.

The cuts pertain to taxes imposed by the General Directorate of Finance and by other public departments and public institutions, as well as municipalities and other public bodies.

Overdue car registration fees (mecanique) also benefit from the fine deductions.

The b...

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Airport fees increase on business and first class travel. Fees down on long haul private jet trips

Fees for departing passengers using business and first class flights as well as private jet and yacht tickets have been increased, according to the approved budget law. The law will come into effect starting from August 1, 2019.

The distance criterion for the new fees become 900 kilometers (km), instead of 1,250, according to Mohamad Chehabeddine, Director of the Civil Aviation Authority.

For trips with a final destination of over 900 km from Beirut, fees have increased from LL50,...

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