Property ownership by non-Lebanese in the Metn Qada’a Taxes and fees in Lebanon April 2010 | 2009 Harvest: An election year in which bank 93 deposits increased The Monthly interviews Ambassador of the issue number www.iimonthly.com • Published by Information International sal Philippines in Lebanon, Gilberto G.B. Asuque BANKS REPUBLIC of Lebanon Lebanon 5,000LL | Saudi Arabia 15SR | UAE 15DHR | Jordan 2JD| Syria 75SYP | Iraq 3,500IQD | Kuwait 1.5KD | Qatar 15QR | Bahrain 2BD | Oman 2OR | Yemen 15YRI | Egypt 10EP | Europe 5Euros INDEX 4 LEADER: Banks Republic of Lebanon 7 Taxes and fees in Lebanon 8 Property ownership by foreigners in the Metn Qada’a 15 Proportional representation 16 2009 harvest 18 “Electricite du Liban” Employees and Workers Syndicate 20 Drug dealing 21 Beirut Stock Exchange Page 42 23 Dubai Financial Market 26 The horseracing track investment 27 Saint Mary’s Orthodox College 29 L’école Supérieure des Affaires (ESA) Page 38 Page 34 31 Arthritis by Dr. Hanna Saadah 32 Time and Place vs Time-Space 42 Between Rabiyeh and Bkirki by Antoine Boutros 43 February 2010 Timeline in Lebanon 33 The kind of love that sets your neurons on fire by Dr. Samar Zebian 45 Iraq 2010 Elections 34 The Monthly interviews Ambassador of 46 Muammar al-Qadhafi the longest the Philippines in Lebanon, Gilberto G.B. Asuque serving ruler! 36 Popular culture 47 Real estate index in Lebanon- Febrary 2010 37 Myth #32: The First Olympic Games: Phoenician or Greek? 48 Food Price Index - Febrary 201050 38 Must-read books: Beirut, Our Memory 50 Unusual Animal Facts 39 Must-read children’s book: The Adventures 50 Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport - of Roba and Woofy Febrary 2010 40 Lebanon Families: Berri 51 Lebanon stats 41 Discover Lebanon: Al Mansouri Editorialﹺ | 3 CITIZEN ZERO DECLARES HE IS PHOENICIAN-DRUZE Citizen Zero decided to break the silence. Two local events provoked his sadness and his words. He was taken by a statement by Samir Geagea that he is an Arab nationalist and the jubilation of Fouad Siniora - also an Arab nationalist - with his new comrade. He was also taken by Walid Jumblat’s statement about an “abandonment of reason” (‘Lahthat Takhlee’ in Arabic). Citizen Zero did not know that Geagea, Siniora and of course Condoleezza Rice were up to their ears in their Arab nationalism nor did he know that the Druze enjoyed a special language worthy of a lexicon understood only by the enlightened of the “Arab Druze”. And he wondered about the variances between this lexicon and that of Bsharre when some of its inhabitants, after burning the houses in Ehden, stated in bewilderment: “Who burned Ehden?… Thank God!” At this point, Citizen Zero wonders: what happens if everyone declares they were living in a moment of abandonment? A Hundreds of thousands of dead, 2006 were declared as soon as there Mubarak, of course seeking to hand missing and disabled in Lebanon’s was a “cessation of hostilities”, in down the reins of power to their civil war had become victims of an an abandonment of reason. sons, in an abandonment of reason. abandonment of reason. A Bad roads and suffocating traffic, However, he read what Dr. Hassan A Billions of dollars worth in public in an abandonment of reason. Sarkis wrote in the Monthly about funds from properties were A A railway without a train, in an “Canaanite-Phoenician cities-states”1 squandered and violated, in an abandonment of reason. and “Phoenicia and the Phoenicians”2: abandonment of reason. A A city without a public park and a “Cities acted completely as independent A Confessions and tribes loathe and public library, in an abandonment states... He/she was either Sidonian then love one another and elect of reason. (from Sidon), Aradian (from Arwad/ zua’ama in moments of love and A Polluted water everywhere and Arados) and so forth. The natives’ hate at the same time - all of course, solid waste in the valley, in an negative reaction to be named in an abandonment of reason. abandonment of reason. Phoenician is caused by the term’s A Citizens protesting and voting after A Audi-Saradar announces the hidden pejorative meaning. Phoenician getting paid, in an abandonment of construction of an “urban dreams” seems to have been derived from a reason. complex after destroying what Greek word for bloody, blood-soaked A A country with no electricity, in an little remained of Phoenicia and and even murderous or criminal.” abandonment of reason. Byzantium, in an abandonment of A Officers, politicians and capitalists reason. Furthermore, he read from Dr. Sarkis: ruled Lebanon and Syria and A LBCI suddenly discovers, after “Phoenicia, as a geographic entity, enriched themselves, in an MTV was reopened, that there is confined to the middle part of the abandonment of reason. had been a squandering of funds central eastern Mediterranean region A Political assassinations and over the past few years and that situated between Ra’s Al Bassit in haphazard killings of students and Solidere had crossed the limit, in Syria, to the north, Mount Carmel in citizens in clashes between March 8 an abandonment of reason. Palestine, to the south and the chain of and March 14, in an abandonment A From “one people in two nations” to Lebanon’s mountains to the east…” of reason. at least two people, two nations and But didn’t the Phoenicians establish A Lebanese soldiers were killed two embassies, in an abandonment Carthage in Northern Egypt as well? and the Nahr El Bared camp was of reason. Maybe it is possible to overcome the destroyed, in an abandonment of A From “the complete liberation Sunni-Shia’a-Christian and Lebanese- reason. of land” to two states: Palestine Syrian-Egyptian-Iraqi-Saudi hurdles, A Public debt with high interest rates for and Israel, in an abandonment of but how? Lebanese banks was accumulated, in reason. an abandonment of reason. A From the “usurped province” Citizen Zero, after all this, deduced A Media outlets were financed (Iskenderun) to the Ottoman that he was a Phoenician in a moment by politicians and states, in an caliphate, in an abandonment of of abandonment. He is therefore a abandonment of reason. reason. Phoenician-Druze and so went the cry A Teachers do not teach and learners A An Arab world ruled by individuals, to the Arabs stretched from “the roaring do not learn, in an abandonment of of whom the oldest ruler is Muammar ocean” (Morocco) to the “rebellious reason. Gadhafi (first worldwide) followed gulf” (Arab or Persian) to join him in A Demands for Hezbollah’s by the Omani Sultan Qaboos ben this new identity. disarmament on Sunday, August 13, Sa’id, then by the Egyptian Hosni 1 - The “Canaanite-Phoenician” city-states by Dr. Hassan Salameh Sarkis, The Monthly, issue number 89 2 - Phoenicia and the Phoenicians by Dr. Hassan Salameh Sarkis, The Monthly, issue number 88 issue 93 - April 2010 4 | Leader Lebanese treasury bonds Lebanese treasury bonds BANKS REPUBLIC OF LEBANON TO COVER USD 11.1 BILLION THIS YEAR he Lebanese Ministry of Finance’s decision to temporarily suspend the issuing of new treasury bonds raised many questions over the motives behind the move and possible financial and economic outcomes. TDid the government decide to increase taxes and fees to be able to cover public debt without having to borrow funds? Or was there a disagreement over the monetary and financial policies between the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank? Or is the purpose of the decision to pressure banks to lower the interest rate in order to lower the cost of public debt? Is it that the government does not currently need new bonds due to the large deposits in its accounts at the Central Bank? Or is the move merely a temporary technical procedure? Issuance of Lebanese treasury bonds Lebanese treasury bonds Table 1 After the end of the Lebanese war, reconstruction projects Value of issued Value of Total value of bonds Year bonds in LBP Eurobonds (USD (approximately USD and the expansion of state administrative and military (billion LBP) million) billion) organizations were launched. A high increase in expenditure 2010 14,100 1,765 11.1 was required and subsequently increasing deposits were 2011 16,633 1,750 12.8 incurred. Under the circumstances, since 1992, consecutive 2012 11,038 2,168 9.5 governments have tried to cover the deficit by increasing 2013 - 1,525 1.5 taxes and fees and by issuing treasury bonds in Lebanese 2014 1,987 1,559 2.9 pounds. In order to encourage subscribers the state set very 2015 - 750 0.75 high interest rates on these bonds that reached up to 40% 2016 - 1,150 1.2 in 1995. In the following years, and under the pretext that 2017 - 3,926 4 the interest rates on debt in Lebanese pounds was high and 2018 - 765 0.76 costly, the government - as part of a plan to restructure the 2021 - 2,092 2.1 public debt - issued treasury bonds in foreign currencies and 2024 - 0,250 0.25 (Around USD 46.8 with lower interests than those set for the Lebanese bonds Total 43,758 17,700 billion) but they remained several times higher than the London Source: Monthly bulletin- Association of Banks in Lebanon-Issue# 1-2010. Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR). As a result, public debt Note: The mentioned value is the nominal value i.e. without the interest at was divided between debt in Lebanese pounds and debt in the time when the actual value of Lebanese bonds is LBP 44,577 billion foreign currencies.