Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati presided over a meeting that included Minister of Finance Youssef Khalil, Minister of Economy and Trade Amin Salam, Governor of the Banque du Liban Riad Salameh, a delegation from the central council of the bank, Director General of the Ministry of Finance George Maarawi, Director General of the Ministry of Economy and Trade Muhammad Abu Haidar. The solutions required to address the monetary situation were searched. It was agreed to keep the meetings open.
Mikati also chaired a meeting to discuss the fuel file, in which Salam participated, Minister of Energy and Water Walid Fayyad, representative of fuel distributors Fadi Abu Chakra, Secretary of the Stations Syndicate Hassan Jaafar, and President of the Oil Importing Companies Association Maroun Chammas.
After the meeting, Fayyad said, “We talked about the rapid change in the exchange rate of the dollar, which affects the possibility of financial sustainability for the stations that are subject to the pricing set by the ministry. Adjust it in order to reflect the exchange rate of the dollar, so that the reward stations do not lose.
He added, “We are subject to fluctuations in the exchange rate of the dollar, unfortunately, and to the speculations that some parties make, and we do not know who they are in relation to the exchange rate of the dollar, and here we wonder what makes the manipulation and the price of the dollar’s rise so great? We are carrying out our duties and came out in agreement on the principle in this meeting. I indicated earlier that we are working on an application that facilitates the issue of producing a tariff for gasoline in a more dynamic manner with exchange rate changes, and we are still conducting experiments on it and we will announce it when it is ready.
For his part, Salam announced that it was decided to allow the pricing of supermarket goods in dollars and to adopt the prevailing exchange rate in the market, indicating that “we cannot rely on the price of a specific platform.”
And he pointed out in a press conference that “Lebanese smoke and bread will not be priced in dollars, and the consumer can pay in Lebanese pounds according to the price approved in the supermarket.” He added, “We were given a deadline until next Wednesday to implement the new price control mechanism.”
The Prime Minister discussed with the Minister of Communications, Johnny Al-Qarm, the reality of the sector. Crimea announced in a press conference that “pursuant to Cabinet Resolution No. 2 of 5/12/2023, and since none of the companies submitted a bid to outsource the postal sector, the Liban Post company will continue to run this sector until 5/31/2023 or until When the bid is awarded, which we will launch again on another company.
The Prime Minister met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Abdullah Bou Habib, and discussed with him the situation of his ministry. He also met with the Director of the Middle East Department at the British Foreign Office, Vijay Rangagajan, in the presence of the British Ambassador, Hamish Cowell. They discussed the repercussions of the earthquake that hit Syria and Turkey and the difficulty of securing aid to the affected areas.
