Lebanon’s Parliament on Wednesday approved over half a billion dollars in cash assistance to help more than 500,000 families make ends meet.
The ration card bill, which will give up to $126 dollars a month to eligible families, comes as the worst economic crisis to engulf the country in decades deepens.
It is now up to the country's caretaker Cabinet to identify the programme’s beneficiaries and secure funding, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said.
“Parliament is bound to discuss and approve the ration card bill … As for the card’s financing and payment mechanisms, it remains the government’s responsibility rather than parliament’s,” Mr Berri told politicians.
The programme aims to replace subsidies that cost Lebanon $6 billion last year, caretaker Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni estimated.
Beneficiaries would be able to spend funds at retail outlets while people living in rural areas may be allowed to withdraw cash, MP Yassin Jaber, a member of Mr Berri’s parliamentary bloc, told The National.
But where the funding will come from for the project is still in question amid dwindling foreign currency reserves.
Mr Jaber said the government was exploring several options to finance the programme, including funds from the International Monetary Fund.
The IMF had informed Mr Wazni that it may consider assigning $900 million to Lebanon in August as part of a proposal to allocate Special Drawing Rights (SDR) to member states to the tune of $650 billion, a statement by the finance ministry said on Tuesday. The IMF’s board of governors will study the proposal in July.
Other options to fund the new package include tapping the Central Bank for a loan that the government could repay once it secures international financial support, Mr Jaber said.
The latter option, however, faces staunch opposition from a number of parliamentary blocs with politicians arguing against the Central Bank dipping into its dwindling foreign currency reserves to fund the programme.
MP Hadi Abu Al Hassan said he feared the programme's implementation would stall.
Mr Jaber said the government has 15 days to set up the programme mechanisms once the law goes into effect.
“These cards should have been issued since the onset of the pandemic to make up for economic hardships,” Mr Jaber added.
The pandemic compounded one of the worst economic crises to grip Lebanon in decades. The crisis has plunged more than half the population into poverty with the national currency losing over 90 per cent of its market value since late 2019.
The newly approved ration cards would complement a social safety net programme to be funded by the World Bank. A $246 million World Bank loan was approved by Parliament in May but has yet to be disbursed pending negotiations with the government over the programme’s roll-out mechanisms.
The delay in the delivery of aid programmes, despite the economic urgency, has fuelled protests and sparked scuffles across the country in recent weeks as people struggled with shortages in fuel, medication and basic commodities.
Shortages have worsened in recent months as the Central Bank continued to ration its subsidies of vital imports amid dwindling foreign currency reserves.
The liquidity crunch prompted the government to recently reduce subsidies on fuel imports, pushing the price of gasoline and diesel up by over a third.
The economic crisis has been further accentuated by the widening political rift between President Michel Aoun and prime minister-designate Saad Hariri over the coming Cabinet's make-up and reform agenda.
The political deadlock has left Lebanon without a fully functioning government since the massive explosion that killed more than 200 people and destroyed thousands of properties across the capital last August.
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Starring: Bdoor Mohammad, Jasem Alkharraz, Iman Tarik, Sarah Taibah
Director: Majid Al Ansari
Rating: 4/5
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The trip
The cost of the Svaneti trip is US$2,000 (Dh7,345) for 10 days, including food, guiding, accommodation and transfers from and to Tbilisi or Kutaisi. This summer the TCT is also offering a 5-day hike in Armenia for $1,200 (Dh4,407) per person. For further information, visit www.transcaucasiantrail.org/en/hike/
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Retirement funds heavily invested in equities at a risky time
Pension funds in growing economies in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East have a sharply higher percentage of assets parked in stocks, just at a time when trade tensions threaten to derail markets.
Retirement money managers in 14 geographies now allocate 40 per cent of their assets to equities, an 8 percentage-point climb over the past five years, according to a Mercer survey released last week that canvassed government, corporate and mandatory pension funds with almost $5 trillion in assets under management. That compares with about 25 per cent for pension funds in Europe.
The escalating trade spat between the US and China has heightened fears that stocks are ripe for a downturn. With tensions mounting and outcomes driven more by politics than economics, the S&P 500 Index will be on course for a “full-scale bear market” without Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts, Citigroup’s global macro strategy team said earlier this week.
The increased allocation to equities by growth-market pension funds has come at the expense of fixed-income investments, which declined 11 percentage points over the five years, according to the survey.
Hong Kong funds have the highest exposure to equities at 66 per cent, although that’s been relatively stable over the period. Japan’s equity allocation jumped 13 percentage points while South Korea’s increased 8 percentage points.
The money managers are also directing a higher portion of their funds to assets outside of their home countries. On average, foreign stocks now account for 49 per cent of respondents’ equity investments, 4 percentage points higher than five years ago, while foreign fixed-income exposure climbed 7 percentage points to 23 per cent. Funds in Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan are among those seeking greater diversification in stocks and fixed income.
• Bloomberg
Countries recognising Palestine
France, UK, Canada, Australia, Portugal, Belgium, Malta, Luxembourg, San Marino and Andorra
2018 ICC World Twenty20 Asian Western Regional Qualifier
Saturday results
Qatar beat Kuwait by 26 runs
Bahrain beat Maldives by six wickets
UAE beat Saudi Arabia by seven wickets
Monday fixtures
Maldives v Qatar
Saudi Arabia v Kuwait
Bahrain v UAE
* The top three teams progress to the Asia Qualifier
Suggested picnic spots
Abu Dhabi
Umm Al Emarat Park
Yas Gateway Park
Delma Park
Al Bateen beach
Saadiyaat beach
The Corniche
Zayed Sports City
Dubai
Kite Beach
Zabeel Park
Al Nahda Pond Park
Mushrif Park
Safa Park
Al Mamzar Beach Park
Al Qudrah Lakes
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Sand storm
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Results
Catchweight 60kg: Mohammed Al Katheeri (UAE) beat Mostafa El Hamy (EGY) TKO round 3
Light Heavyweight: Ibrahim El Sawi (EGY) no contest Kevin Oumar (COM) Unintentional knee by Oumer
Catchweight 73kg: Yazid Chouchane (ALG) beat Ahmad Al Boussairy (KUW) Unanimous decision
Featherweight: Faris Khaleel Asha (JOR) beat Yousef Al Housani (UAE) TKO in round 2 through foot injury
Welterweight: Omar Hussein (JOR) beat Yassin Najid (MAR); Split decision
Middleweight: Yousri Belgaroui (TUN) beat Sallah Eddine Dekhissi (MAR); Round-1 TKO
Lightweight: Abdullah Mohammed Ali Musalim (UAE) beat Medhat Hussein (EGY); Triangle choke submission
Welterweight: Abdulla Al Bousheiri (KUW) beat Sofiane Oudina (ALG); Triangle choke Round-1
Lightweight: Mohammad Yahya (UAE) beat Saleem Al Bakri (JOR); Unanimous decision
Bantamweight: Ali Taleb (IRQ) beat Nawras Abzakh (JOR); TKO round-2
Catchweight 63kg: Rany Saadeh (PAL) beat Abdel Ali Hariri (MAR); Unanimous decision
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
