{"id":42138,"date":"2019-12-31T02:22:48","date_gmt":"2019-12-31T02:22:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=42138"},"modified":"2019-12-31T02:22:48","modified_gmt":"2019-12-31T02:22:48","slug":"lebanese-wont-miss-2019-have-low-hopes-for-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=42138","title":{"rendered":"Lebanese won\u2019t miss 2019, have low hopes for 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\nBEIRUT:\u00a0The Lebanese people know what awaits them in 2020; the political, economic, and social crises that erupted in the second half of 2019 will not be resolved on this year\u2019s last day.<\/p>\n

\nThe formation of the new government still faces obstacles.<\/p>\n

\nThe banking procedures, which saw the imposition of restrictions on US dollar transfers abroad, and on the withdrawal of deposits from banks, resulted in economic contraction, bankruptcy and the dismissal of employees.<\/p>\n

\nThese restrictions persist and may get tougher in the new year as long as there is no government to generate confidence.<\/p>\n

\nAs for the unprecedented demonstrations that erupted last October against the ruling class, the people participating in them are still worried and angry.<\/p>\n

\nAccording to political and economic experts, the new government, if it ever sees light, will face the challenge of preventing total collapse, or alleviating its effects, under stressful circumstances, while protests might even overthrow it.<\/p>\n

\nThe new year\u2019s budget indicates that the state\u2019s revenues have decreased in large part due to the decline in tax collecting.<\/p>\n

\nThe draft 2020 budget, which was transferred to the Parliamentary Money Committee, expected that revenues would total 20 trillion lira ($13.3 billion), but the Ministry of Finance adjusted this number in light of what was collected in 2019, and reduced the expected revenues to about 14 trillion lira.<\/p>\n

\nThe figures for the 2019 budget were disastrous, as public financial figures showed that revenues collected until last October were estimated at a little under 11.5 trillion lira, compared to an expected figure of 18.78 trillion.<\/p>\n

\nPeople on the street are not optimistic about the near future. Hanadi Abdel-Al, a US resident back for the holidays, said: \u201cThe problem that people talk about is the difficulty in obtaining US dollars to run their businesses. But the Lebanese people who lived through wars are able to overcome this crisis as well. I envy them because they live day by day, and do not care about planning for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nSahar Baghdadi, who lived abroad for 21 years and came back to Lebanon two years ago, expressed regret at returning, and said: \u201c2019 is one of the worst years \u2014 there is no peace of mind, no security, no social justice, and our economic situation is declining. I live with my family in a state of anxiety about what next year will bring to us. Will I be able to pay the tuition fees for my children\u2019s schools? If I have the opportunity to emigrate again, I will not hesitate.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nMohammed Afra, a lawyer, believes 2019 was \u201can extension of the year 1984 \u2014 the ruling class today is a continuation of the militias that controlled the country during the war and imposed their control over the people. Former militias acquired power and imposed a corrupt political class whose only concern is financial greed, control of state assets, and protection of banks\u2019 interests.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nAfra noted that based on lawsuits in his office, he was witnessing \u201cfrightening failure situations.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\nSales have decreased, and it is no longer people\u2019s priority to buy luxury items as purchasing power has decreased by 5%.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\nHassan Chalhoub, Employee<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\nHe said: \u201cCompanies are filing for bankruptcy and we cannot collect the rights of employees who have been laid off as a result, which affects negatively the middle and poor classes. I am afraid that next year will not produce a government that fights corruption and gives autonomy to the judiciary. If this situation persists, we will see thefts of banks, pharmacies, and homes, then looting and chaos will prevail.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nHassan Chalhoub, an employee in a telephone sales company, expressed his concern over what next year would bring with it. \u201cSales have decreased, and it is no longer people\u2019s priority to buy luxury items as purchasing power has decreased by 5 percent. I will not immigrate as my family needs me here in Lebanon, and my demand is to provide job opportunities for talented people with disregards to their sectarian affiliations.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nMarilyn Melhem said: \u201c2019, was full of grief for me. My husband died. I work to support two sons, one of them is married, and I do not know whether I will be summarily expelled from my job due to a decline in the market. In this country, nothing guarantees my rights as a citizen. There is a great injustice.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nBernard Saqr, a florist, said that conditions in 2019 were \u201cvery difficult\u201d and added: \u201cI sell flowers and seedlings in Byblos region and distribute my products in Lebanon and Syria, but conditions retreated and roses became a secondary thing that can be dispensed off. At weddings, they resort to accessories that are less expensive than roses, and they keep looking for alternatives. If the situation continues, no one could survive.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nHe thinks sometimes of emigrating, yet he does not want to leave the country. He still hopes \u201cthat things improve,\u201d assuring that: \u201cI will struggle with what is available despite everything, and I support the revolutionaries and the revolution to the fullest extent.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nEconomic expert Dr. Louis Hobeika said things could not continue in such a fashion, for the country would not be able to stand further delay in forming a government, and that he worried that the prime minister-designate, Dr. Hassan Diab, might back down on forming the government.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThe banks\u2019 restrictions are a necessary measure because political prospects are not clear. What is required is a government of confidence, so that the crisis eases,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BEIRUT:\u00a0The Lebanese people know what awaits them in 2020; the political, economic, and social crises that erupted in the second half of 2019 will not be resolved on this year\u2019s last day. The formation of the new government still faces obstacles. The banking procedures, which saw the imposition of restrictions on US dollar transfers abroad,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":42139,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle_east_news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=42138"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42138\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/42139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=42138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=42138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=42138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}