We have no desire to impose capital controls, Lebanon’s central bank governor says

Bankers and analysts have cited wide fears depositors will try to take out their savings when banks reopened as a precaution against ongoing anti-government protests. (Reuters)
Updated 12 November 2019
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We have no desire to impose capital controls, Lebanon’s central bank governor says

  • The country’s bank employees are on strike after being attacked by depositors

BEIRUT: A demonstration outside the central bank of Lebanon to protest financial measures adopted by the Banque du Liban (BDL) prompted the central bank’s governor, Riad Salameh, to hold a press conference on Monday.

The demonstration, part of the protests in Lebanon over the past 26 days, drew hundreds of people.

The press conference was to address the confusion that has followed restrictions being imposed on dollar withdrawals and transfers with the presence of two exchange rates; an official one not exceeding 1,515 liras and another one in exchange shops, which reached 2,000 liras two days ago.

Salameh said that BDL’s main objective was “to preserve the stability of the Lebanese lira peg.” He said that “the protection of depositors and deposits is a fundamental and ultimate matter.”

“We have taken the necessary measures so as to avoid losses to the depositors,” he said. “There will be no haircut as rumored because BDL cannot do this and the deposits belong to the Lebanese people.”

Salameh said: “We have asked the banks to meet the needs of the Lebanese inside the country and abroad. We have also asked the banks to reassess all credit facilities they had cut since Oct. 17 (the start of the protests). They shall review them to study them based on their situation in order to meet the returned cheques resulting from the reduction of these facilities.”

He said that the central bank was allowing banks to borrow dollars at an interest rate of 20 percent to secure their needs of liquidity in dollars, provided this money is not transferred abroad. “We have also asked the banks to cover the installments of citizens’ loans in lira,” he said.

Salameh said that “BDL cannot interfere with the banknotes at exchange shops but has taken measures to secure dollar funds for wheat, food, fuel and medicine.” He said that banks have been urged to keep credit cards within their limits and provide liquidity for this.

“The central bank will try in the coming period to reduce interest rates to preserve the banking sector and the solvency of the economy and sectors. The BDL has capabilities, including currency liquidity and investments, such as treasury bonds, which financed the public sector and the economy.”

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Salameh denied that “all bank money is in the possession of the BDL as rumored,” highlighting that “these banks have funds invested abroad, with the state, or in the private sector.”

He said that “the BDL does not have the power to impose capital controls and has no desire to do so.”

Salameh said that “the decline in economic activity and the negative growth in 2019 increased unemployment and affected many of the Lebanese people.”

“We noticed this situation through the defaulting on the repayment of housing loans,” he said.

“Between July and September, the assets of the central bank increased by 2 million dollars, but on Sept. 1, we had a setback when OFAC (the Office of Foreign Assets Control) sanctioned Lebanese banks and large amounts of cash were withdrawn from the BDL in lira. During September, October and November, we withdrew an amount in liras that is equal to what was withdrawn in the past three years, and this affected the dollars money market, raising the exchange rates at exchange shops.”

Salameh referred to the phenomenon of the Lebanese saving $3 billion in their homes: “We have an exceptional situation today. Lebanon has a free market economy, and we believe it should remain so. There is also freedom to trade goods and cash.”

“The reserve in the BDL — not including gold — is $38 billion, including eurobonds and the central bank’s investments, and the current monetary capacity is about $30 billion.”

Salameh said that the financial architecture in 2016 allowed for the creation of large reserves that supported the lira and helped
to implement international banking standards. 

“We did not use public money in our financial engineering, and calling for financial re-engineering is inaccurate.”

He said that “the central bank financed and did not spend, and that those who spent were the ones who developed and monitored the state’s budget.” He said that he is implementing the policy that serves the interest of Lebanon and the Lebanese people and that the BDL is trying to protect Lebanon during the current difficult situation in the region.

Salameh said that the exceptional circumstances do not allow for the establishment of a financial architecture but the management of the existing liquidity to protect the credit situation in the country.

Salameh’s press conference coincided with the Lebanese Bank Employee Union’s calling of a strike starting on Tuesday and “until the general situation stabilizes.” Salameh commented on the move by saying that he was not aware of the open strike. “The measures we have agreed on with the banks must be implemented and a solution must be reached for the strikes,” he said.

The bank union said in a statement that the reason for the strike was that the banking sector saw in the last week unstable conditions that led to unacceptable working conditions, highlighting that bank employees have been insulted and even attacked by depositors despite their concerns being understood.

The bank said that there was also chaos in a number of bank branches, which led to confusion, concern and fear among bank employees who continued to perform their professional duties despite these psychologically and physically stressful conditions.

Banks in Lebanon closed on Saturday and Monday because of the Muslim holiday, the Prophet’s Mawlid.


UN warns of new flashpoint in Sudan’s Darfur region

Updated 37 min 43 sec ago
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UN warns of new flashpoint in Sudan’s Darfur region

United Nations, US: Senior UN officials warned the Security Council on Friday of the risks of a new front opening in Sudan, around the town of el-Fasher in Darfur, where the population is already on the brink of starvation.
After a year of war between the armed forces (SAF) of General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (FSR), under the command of General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the country is experiencing “a crisis of epic proportions... wholly man-made,” denounced Rosemary DiCarlo, UN under-secretary-general for political and peacebuilding affairs.
“The warring parties have ignored repeated calls to cease their hostilities... Instead, they have stepped up preparations for further fighting, with both the SAF and the RSF continuing their campaigns to recruit civilians,” DiCarlo said.
In particular, she voiced concern at reports of a possible “imminent” attack by the RSF on el-Fasher, the only capital of the five Darfur states it does not control, “raising the specter of a new front in the conflict.”
El-Fasher acts as a humanitarian hub for Darfur, which is home to around a quarter of Sudan’s 48 million inhabitants.
Until recently, the town had been relatively unaffected by the fighting, hosting a large number of refugees. But since mid-April, bombardments and clashes have been reported in the surrounding villages.
“Since then, there have been continuing reports of clashes in the eastern and northern parts of the city, resulting in more than 36,000 people displaced,” said Edem Wosornu, a director at for the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, noting that Doctors Without Borders has treated more than 100 casualties in el-Facher in recent days.
“The total number of civilian casualties is likely much higher.”
“The violence poses an extreme and immediate danger to the 800,000 civilians who reside in el-Fasher. And it risks triggering further violence in other parts of Darfur,” she warned.
DiCarlo added that fighting in el-Fasher “could unleash bloody intercommunal strife throughout Darfur” and further hamper the distribution of humanitarian aid in a region “already on the brink of famine.”
The region was already ravaged more than 20 years ago by the scorched-earth policy carried out by the Janjaweed — Arab militiamen who have since joined the RSF — for then-president Omar Al-Bashir.
The new conflict in Sudan, which began on April 15, 2023, has already claimed thousands of lives and displaced more than 8.5 million people, according to the UN.


US says UN World Food Program has agreed to help in distribution of aid to Gaza via sea route

Updated 20 April 2024
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US says UN World Food Program has agreed to help in distribution of aid to Gaza via sea route

  • US officials say they were working with WFP on how to deliver the aid to Palestinian civilians “in an independent, neutral, and impartial manner”
  • The NGO group World Central Kitchen stopped its aid distribution work after an Israeli attack killed seven aid workers on April 1

WASHINGTON: The UN World Food Program has agreed to help deliver aid for the starving civilians of Gaza once the US military completes a pier for transporting the humanitarian assistance by sea, US officials said Friday.

The involvement of the UN agency could help resolve one of the major obstacles facing the US-planned project — the reluctance of aid groups to handle on-the-ground distribution of food and other badly needed goods in Gaza absent significant changes by Israel.
An Israeli military attack April 1 that killed seven aid workers from the World Central Kitchen intensified international criticism of Israel for failing to provide security for humanitarian workers or allow adequate amounts of aid across its land borders.
President Joe Biden, himself facing criticism over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza while supporting Israel’s military campaign against Hamas, announced March 8 that the US military would build the temporary pier and causeway, as an alternative to the land routes.
The US Agency for International Development confirmed to The Associated Press that it would partner with the WFP on delivering humanitarian assistance to Gaza via the maritime corridor.
“This is a complex operation that requires coordination between many partners, and our conversations are ongoing. Throughout Gaza, the safety and security of humanitarian actors is critical to the delivery of assistance, and we continue to advocate for measures that will give humanitarians greater assurances,” USAID said in its statement to the AP.
US and WFP officials were working on how to deliver the aid to Palestinian civilians “in an independent, neutral, and impartial manner,” the agency said.
There was no immediate comment from the WFP, and an WFP spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment.
Israel promised to open more border crossings into Gaza and increase the flow of aid after its drone strikes killed the seven aid workers, who were delivering food into the Palestinian territory.

The war was sparked when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking some 250 others hostage. The Israeli offensive in Gaza, aimed at destroying Hamas, has caused widespread devastation and killed over 33,800 people, according to local health officials. Hundreds of UN and other humanitarian workers are among those killed by Israeli strikes.
International officials say famine is imminent in northern Gaza, where 70 percent of people are experiencing catastrophic hunger.
The US military will be constructing what’s known as a modular causeway as part of the maritime route, in hopes that handling the inspection and processing of the aid offshore will speed the distribution to Gaza’s people.
Offshore, the Army will build a large floating platform where ships can unload pallets of aid. Then the aid will be transferred by Army boats to a motorized string of steel pier or causeway sections that will be anchored to the shore.
Several Army vessels and Miliary Sealift Command ships are already in the Mediterranean Sea, and are working to prepare and build the platform and pier.
That pier is expected to be as much as 1,800 feet (550 meters) long, with two lanes, and the Pentagon has said it could accommodate the delivery of more than 2 million meals a day for Gaza residents.
Army Col. Sam Miller, commander of the 7th Transportation Brigade, which is in charge of building the pier, said about 500 of his soldiers will participate in the mission. All together, Pentagon officials have said about 1,000 US troops will be involved.
Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, told reporters this week that the US in on track to have the system in place by the end of the month or early May. The actual construction of the pier had been on hold as US and international officials hammered out agreements for the collection and distribution of the aid.
He said the US has been making progress, and that Israel has agreed to provide security on the shore. The White House has made clear that there will be no US troops on the ground in Gaza, so while they will be constructing elements of the pier they will not transport aid onto the shore.
US Navy ships and the Army vessels will provide security for US forces building the pier.


Hamas chief Haniyeh arrives in Turkiye for talks

Updated 20 April 2024
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Hamas chief Haniyeh arrives in Turkiye for talks

  • Fidan said he spoke with Haniyeh, who lives in Qatar, about how Hamas — designated as a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States and the European Union — “must clearly express its expectations, especially about a two-state solution”

ISTANBUL: A leader of Palestinian militant group Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, arrived in Istanbul Friday evening for talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as the death toll in Gaza passed 34,000.
A statement from Hamas Friday said Erdogan and Haniyeh would discuss the conflict in Gaza, adding that the head of the group’s political bureau was accompanied by a delegation.
Middle East tensions are at a high after Israel’s reported attack on Iran and Gaza bracing for a new Israeli offensive.
Erdogan insisted on Wednesday that he would continue “to defend the Palestinian struggle and to be the voice of the oppressed Palestinian people.”
But talking to journalists on Friday, he refused to be drawn on the details on the meeting.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan was in Qatar Wednesday and said he spent three hours with Haniyeh and his aides for “a wide exchange of views in particular about negotiations for a ceasefire.”
Qatar, a mediator between Israel and Hamas, acknowledged Wednesday that negotiations to end hostilities in Gaza and liberate hostages were “stalling.”
Fidan said he spoke with Haniyeh, who lives in Qatar, about how Hamas — designated as a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States and the European Union — “must clearly express its expectations, especially about a two-state solution.”
Erdogan’s last meeting with Haniyeh was in July 2023 when Erdogan hosted him and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas at the presidential palace in Ankara. Haniyeh had last met Fidan in Turkiye on January 2.
The war in Gaza started after Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7 that resulted in the deaths of about 1,170 people, mainly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.
Militants also took about 250 hostages. Israel says around 129 are believed to be held in Gaza, including 34 presumed dead.
Israel’s retaliatory military campaign has killed at least 34,012 people, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.
 

 


Huge blast at military base used by Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces, sources say

Shiite fighters from the Popular Mobilization Forces advance towards the city of Tal Afar, Iraq. (AFP file photo)
Updated 20 April 2024
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Huge blast at military base used by Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces, sources say

  • PMF sources said the strikes targeted a headquarters of the PMF at the Kalso military base near the town of Iskandariya around 50 km south of Baghdad

BAGHDAD: A huge blast rocked a military base used by Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) to the south of Baghdad late on Friday, two PMF and two security sources told Reuters.
The two security sources said the blast was a result of an unknown airstrike, which happened around midnight Friday.
The two PMF sources pointed out the strikes did not lead to casualties but caused material damage.
PMF sources said the strikes targeted a headquarters of the PMF at the Kalso military base near the town of Iskandariya around 50 km south of Baghdad.
Government officials did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The PMF started out as a grouping of armed factions, many close to Iran, that was later recognized as a formal security force by Iraqi authorities.
Factions within the PMF took part in months of rocket and drone attacks on US forces in Iraq amid Israel’s Gaza campaign but ceased to do so in February.

 


Leaders of Jordan and Pakistan call UAE president to express concern about effects of severe storm

Updated 19 April 2024
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Leaders of Jordan and Pakistan call UAE president to express concern about effects of severe storm

  • Leaders passed on their best wishes to the country as it recovers from the storms

DUBAI: The president of the UAE, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, received telephone calls from King Abdullah of Jordan and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday, during which they expressed concern about the effects of the severe weather, including unusually heavy rainfall, that battered parts of the country this week.

They also passed on their best wishes to the country as it recovers from the storms and “conveyed their heartfelt hopes for the safety and prosperity of the UAE and its people, praying for their protection from any harm,” the Emirates News Agency reported.

Sheikh Mohammed thanked both leaders for their warm sentiments, and emphasized the strong bonds between the UAE and their nations.

The UAE and neighboring Oman were hit by unprecedented rainfall and flooding on Tuesday, with more than 250 millimeters of rain falling in parts of the Emirates, considerably more than is normally seen in a year. Dubai International Airport was forced to close temporarily when runways were flooded.