By increasing salaries by a third, the Lebanese government quells the rebellion among its employees.

The Lebanese government contained part of the employee salary crisis, by disbursing salaries in US dollars on the “exchange” platform belonging to the Central Bank of Lebanon, at a price less than a third of the price of the dollar on the platform itself, and about half of its price in the parallel market, in an effort to compensate for the value of the deteriorating salaries.
Ministerial sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the decision was taken to pay salaries at an exchange rate of 60,000 pounds for employees, and the Governor of the Banque du Liban, Riad Salameh, requested the approval of caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Minister of Finance Youssef Al-Khalil, and the sources pointed out that the decision enters into force for all employees. The public sector, including military personnel in active service and retired military personnel, will take place next Monday, when the decision will be signed by Mikati, after he obtained (Friday) the approval of the Minister of Finance.
Two years ago, the Central Bank of Lebanon launched the “Safera” platform, which provides cash dollars at an exchange rate lower than its rate on the black market. The exchange rate of the dollar on the “exchange” platform is 90,000 pounds, while it is 110,000 pounds on the black market. Salaries are paid to employees from the Ministry of Finance in Lebanese pounds, but they exchange them in banks and automatic teller machines for dollars at the “exchange” rate. This step is an additional support and assistance for employees whose salaries have deteriorated.
Banking sources said that they were informed yesterday of the adoption of an “exchange” rate of 60,000 pounds for the military, starting on Friday, and for civil servants, starting on Monday. The sources said that the agreement was reached, but it was not implemented yesterday (Friday), because the notification came late after the end of the official working hours.
This step would impose additional burdens on the Banque du Liban, but financial sources confirmed to Asharq Al-Awsat that the agreement also required that price differences be charged to the Ministry of Finance.
With this step, the employees will spend their salaries at an exchange rate that is one-third lower than the price on “Sarafa”. Whoever has a total salary with aid and other incentives, 9 million pounds, for example, will receive 150 dollars now, an increase of 50 dollars over what he would have received if it had been according to the basic exchange rate of the “Central” platform. At the same time, he will be able to sell his salary in the parallel market, with an increase in the fact that the exchange rate of the dollar in the parallel market is 110,000 pounds.
This government move comes after employees were prevented from receiving their salaries. The campaign of abstinence included the military personnel in active service who announced their refusal to withdraw their salaries at the exchange rate of 90 thousand pounds for the Banque du Liban platform, as well as retired military personnel and civil servants.
This step is seen as a government intervention, it is not known whether it was only for one time, with the aim of helping employees pay part of their obligations, but the step did not contribute to returning employees who went on a continuous strike 3 months ago, to their work circles. Ministerial sources said that this file will be studied on Monday in the government session to be held in the Grand Serail, and it was postponed from last week. It is devoted to addressing living and financial files in light of the worsening living and economic crises, foremost of which is the rise in the exchange rate of the dollar in the parallel market to unprecedented levels, and the deterioration of the value of public sector salaries.
The national currency lost a large part of its purchasing value, which prompted merchants to shift towards dollarization of prices, while the value of the salaries of employees whose suffering has worsened in recent months has not increased significantly, with the dollar exchange rate rising from 40,000 pounds to one dollar, to 110,000 pounds, during four months.