Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati made a shocking statement concerning the civil servants and announced that they would not be able to pay the civil servants’ salaries in June! The written statement made after the Council of Ministers Meeting chaired by Mikati was published in the Lebanese official agency NNA.
“WE CAN’T PAY”
Mikati stated that if the Lebanese Parliament does not decide on additional payment for the salaries of civil servants, they will not be able to pay their civil servants’ salaries in June.
THE ECONOMIC CRISIS IN LEBANON
Events such as the demonstrations that started in Lebanon in October 2019, the resignation of the government, the port explosion in Beirut and the Kovid-19 outbreak deeply affected the country’s economy.
In an environment of economic crisis that has been going on for about 4 years, dollar deposit accounts in banks were frozen in order to prevent the melting of foreign exchange reserves.
In the country, one US dollar was traded at 1500 Lebanese lira in 2019, while the depreciation of the local currency increased simultaneously with the successive developments.
While one US dollar was 20 thousand Lebanese lira in January 2022, its depreciation continued rapidly in the last 1 year.
In the report of the World Bank published in November 2022, it was stated that the financial loss in Lebanon exceeded 72 billion dollars.
In Lebanon, where 80 percent of the population is reported to be on the poverty line, the dollar, which was traded at the level of 100 thousand Lebanese liras on the black market on March 14, broke a new record by reaching 140,000 liras on March 21.
Currently, the dollar is traded at 94 thousand Lebanese lira on the black market.
Before the crisis, a civil servant’s salary in Lebanon was around $1000, now it has fallen to less than $100. (AA)