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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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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Retail sales index stable F&B sales increase 34 percent. LFA indicators show big drop in sales of cosmetics, clothing and fashion

Retail sales in 2018 were half a percent lower than their 2017 levels, according to the latest edition of Retail Activity Indicators published by the Lebanese Franchise Association (LFA), in collaboration with the Chamber of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture in Beirut and Mount Lebanon (CCIA-BML).

The index covers retail sales performance for nine categories of goods and services. It remained around ten percent below its 2012 base year level.

Five categories declined while four r...

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Union of Arab Banks starts mediation, arbitration center. To provide faster services at lower costs than courts

The Beirut-based Mediation and Arbitration Center (MAC) of the Union of Arab Bank (UAB) has begun operations, and will provide services locally, regionally, and globally.

The center will not confine its services to litigations among banks or between banks and other parties, but will accept all requests for resolving litigation issues, said Ghaleb Ghanem, a member of the MAC's higher council for arbitration.

The MAC does not differ at the legal level from the Lebanese Arbitration an...

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Land registry to be linked to notaries public. Funded by €1.2 million French grant`

The Ministry of Finance has launched a project to modernize the General Directorate of Land Registry and Cadastre (GDLRC).

The project consists of linking Cadastral offices to notaries public, to spare citizens the need to register property twice. "For people who will register property at the notary public, it will be as if they did so in our offices," said Georges Maarawi, Director General.

Many individuals register property at the notary public but delay registration at cadastra...

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