Budgeting for the future Lebanon passed its second state budget in less than six months at the end of March, after being without one for almost 12 years. The 2018 state budget was hastily pushed through cabinet and Parliament ahead of early April’s CEDRE infrastructure investment conference in Paris, and it mandated spending cuts meant to please international donors.…… Read More
Signed in pencil Officials went to Paris in early April to pitch an infrastructure investment plan for Lebanon to the international community at the CEDRE conference. The pitch was generally well received by donor countries and multilateral institutions, who pledged $11.3 billion in low-interest loans for infrastructure projects on the condition that Lebanon check reform boxes on the…… Read More
Offshore petroleum investments made riskier In light of the recent Lebanon Investment in Infrastructure Conference as well as the highly anticipated CEDRE conference (also known as Paris IV), it is undeniable that attracting private investment is Lebanon’s top priority. This comes shortly after the country signed petroleum contracts with international oil companies (IOCs) for the exploration and production of offshore…… Read More
Troubled and troublesome Every stroll in the Eastern Mediterranean lands means walking in the presence of some historic reference. Transformed into politics and national ideologies, history has long been a tool of identity building. When looking at identity politics, these days may we squirm over the rise of new, presumably white identity politics in the United States or…… Read More
Lebanese in Brazil will not vote come May The Lebanese parliamentary elections on May 6 are bound to make history, as, for the first time ever, Lebanese residing abroad have been granted the right to vote. Their appetite to do so, however, has so far appeared to be rather humble. In total, 82,900 Lebanese abroad have registered to vote, according to the official…… Read More
Energy and climate change Lebanon’s commitment to combating or mitigating climate change culminated in December 2015 when Lebanon became a signatory to the Paris Agreement at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21). Lebanon committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 15 percent by 2030 and up to 30 percent conditional upon the provision of international…… Read More
Wind farms in Lebanon Earlier this spring, Lebanon signed its first-ever power purchase agreement (PPA) for wind energy with three separate consortiums that will build and operate wind farms in Akkar, in the north of the country. The energy ministry’s signing of the agreements represents Lebanon’s first PPA with the private sector in electricity generation as part of efforts…… Read More
Valued opinions After over a decade of dormancy, Lebanon’s Economic and Social Council (ESC) was reactivated last November. The ESC is an advisory body to the government, and its opinons are non-binding. Executive met with the economist Mazen Soueid, one of 71 individuals named to serve on committees of the ESC, to understand how the institution can…… Read More
VAT rises from 10 to 11 percent Since at least 2011, the IMF has urged the Lebanese government to increase its VAT rate and to broaden the tax’s base by lowering exemptions. After this year’s increase of the VAT standard rate by 1 percent, from 10 to 11 percent, Lebanon’s VAT rate is still the second-lowest in the region after Djibouti, and…… Read More
The petroleum legislative framework for Lebanon Now that Lebanon has signed the first two exploration and production agreements (EPAs) for offshore oil and gas, companies will prepare the groundwork to start drilling at the beginning of 2019. This achievement is a long time coming. The first oil-related legislation, the Offshore Petroleum Resources Law, was enacted in 2010; the sector’s regulator, the…… Read More