Lebanon Explores Tariff Dollar Raising In Its Economy

Lebanon Explores Tariff Dollar Raising In Its Economy

Beirut, August 18 (Prensa Latina) The incumbent government’s Minister of Economy and Trade, Amin Salam, said today that Lebanon is considering raising the tariff dollar in its economy to improve public finances.

During a press conference, the agency stressed that amid the current crisis, it is impossible to continue the tariff dollar rate based on 1,500 Lebanese pounds because the state and consequently the public sector would collapse along with the collapse in wages.

The leader explained that at the beginning several proposals on the value of the duty dollar were analyzed to ensure the sustainability of the citizen and the consumer to the state.

Salam added that the decision to adopt a price of 20,000 Lebanese pounds per dollar had been circulating for several days, confirming in this regard that Prime Minister-elect Najib Miqati had sent a letter of formal notice to the Treasury and the Governor of the Bank of Lebanon who want to promote this measure.

The Minister of Economy and Trade stressed that this prize will enable the public sector to be reactivated and workers’ rights to be restored so that state administrations can continue their work.

For decades, the government has pegged the Lebanese pound at 1,500 to the dollar; However, since the social outburst in October 2019, the situation has deteriorated due to corruption and mismanagement, according to analysts.

A report released last May by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights, Olivier De Schutter, indicated that the central bank had guided the Lebanese state towards a system that protects the rich while abandoning poor families.

The document reflected that public services, including electricity, education and health care, had been destroyed for years and the squandering of national wealth exacerbated inequality.

Against this backdrop, Hezbollah blames the United States for the nation’s worst financial and economic crisis in 150 years and defends popular, political, cultural and social resistance with models to get out of the bad moment.

acl/yma