Report by Maroun Nassif, English adaptation by Nadine Sassine
The monthly cost of salary increases and transportation allowances approved by the caretaker government during its recent session on Wednesday amounts to 2,700 billion Lebanese pounds, equivalent to 30 million dollars.
This includes three additional salaries for retired military personnel, teachers, and public sector employees, with the increase not being less than 8 million pounds.
For active-duty military personnel, three extra salaries are provided, with an increase in the transportation allowance from 5 to 9 million pounds monthly.
Additionally, employees of public administrations and institutions will receive two extra salaries along with a daily attendance allowance ranging from 8 to 16 liters of gasoline per month, provided that the employee ensures a minimum attendance of at least 14 days. Those who maintain full-time attendance throughout the month will receive an incentive bonus, the amount of which has yet to be determined.
These increases will be retroactively paid from December 2023, except for this incentive bonus.
The money from these increases will be sent by the Ministry of Finance to the accounts of its beneficiaries in banks, which will convert them from Lebanese pounds into dollars at an exchange rate of 89,500 pounds.
The BDL is the one that will secure the fresh dollar to the banks.
The funds for these increases are secured, as confirmed by sources at the Banque du Liban to LBCI.
Their disbursement will not lead to any new increase in the exchange rate of the dollar, as the central bank will pay them from revenue from fees, taxes, such as telecommunications and customs, and other sources, not from mandatory reserves or any remaining funds of depositors.