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A Lebanese Blog

Tag: Lebanon

  • How to Minimize the Effect of the Dollar Crisis on You

    For over a month now we have witnessing a dollar shortage in Lebanon which caused two parallel markets to be established for the currency. The first market is the one regulated by the central bank where financial institutions are supposed to deal by the ~1,500L.L rate, while the other is controlled by money changers where the rate changes from day to day and follows the supply and demand principle. And as banks decrease their supply of dollars to the market, their clients feel obliged to turn to money changers who have been imposing a rate as high as 1,750 or 1,800L.L sometimes (20% difference).

    This has unfortunately impacted a lot of people since most of us earn our salaries in LBP but pay for goods and services that are priced in USD. And the 20% variation in exchange rate has been translated as an increase in the price of goods. So if I am holding lebanese lira and want to buy a $10 item, it now costs me 18,000L.L instead of 15,000L.L in case a bank refuses my exchange transaction and I opt to do it at some money changer. A real example is now the price of mobile recharge cards which prices have significantly increased in case you want to pay in Lebanese lira.

    To avoid this effect of prices inflation on me, I personally have been using digital channels to settle my payments using my credit card (i.e. dealing directly with the financial institutions at the ~1,500L.L rate) whenever I have the option to do so.

    This is applicable to mobile recharge cards and bill settlement, internet subscription renewal, money transfers.

    Mobile recharge cards & bill settlement

    For touch lines you should first create a user on their website and then you can either recharge a prepaid line here or settle your bill here.

    Alfa users also need to create an account on Alfa’s website and they can recharge a prepais line here or settle their bills here.

    On the other hand, a lot of ATMs around the country gives you the capability of purchasing mobile recharge vouchers when using your card, and you will of course be charged in dollars at the official exchange rate.

    Internet subscription renewal

    Likewise, the most popular ISPs offer renewing or recharging your internet account online. To my knowledge, Cyberia, IDM, TerraNet, Sodetel, WISE, and MOBI, all offer the service.

    Ogero

    Ogero actually set their prices in lebanese lira but I’m including it here because I find it more convenient to pay my bill online than physically going to one of their central offices, or to one of their payment partner (like OMT for example) that impose 2,000L.L extra charge for every settled bill.

    To settle your bill online, create an account here and then linkt you landline to it by inputting your number and your initial subscription date which you find on any old bill you have.

    Money transfers

    Last time I tried to transfer dollars outside Lebanon through one of the money transfer companies, the agent didn’t accept the money unless it was in the currency. However, Western Union recently launched a service that allows you to transfer money online using your credit card. I personally didn’t try it yet but you sign up to it here, and you are required to verfiy your identity by taking your ID card to one of the BoB Finance branches in town before starting to use the service.

    Other services

    Many service providers provide online services that are either not much advertised or people simply don’t know about. If you are subscribed with CableVision for example, you can pay onlin here instead of going through your dealer. And the same applies to beIN here. So always inquire with any solution provider about such possible payment options that can make your life easier.

    The above all works as long as bank provide their clients with reasonable amount of dollars to settle their credit cards. So in sum, try as much as you can to perform your exchange operation at regulated institutions until we hopefully make it out of this crisis!

  • Lebanon’s October Revolution – Where And How Do The Others Live?

    I admit I have never participated in a demonstration prior to the October 17th uprising. I didn’t think any of the political movements represent me in 2005, and I didn’t believe the civil society was capable of bringing real change with the 2015-16 protests.

    This however all changed two weeks ago when I decided to join the masses in Riad El Solh and The Martyrs’ Square to protest against the whole ruling class in Lebanon after watching people from all social levels and religions united against the politicians. For once, it felt like people were liberated from their politicians especially in some areas that were always thought to be fully controlled by ruling parties. For instance, people in the north rioted against Tripoli’s wealthy politicians, while some villages in the south dared for the first time in 30 years to revolt against the Hezbollah-Amal duo and go as far as cursing Nabih Berri who has always been regarded as second to god in the region.

    Yet, and in this unique moment in our recent history, some sheep-like people from all communities have still chosen to keep acting submissive to their political leaders and conform to their will no matter what, and at this time I seriously don’t understand it.

    Where and how do these people live? Aren’t they suffering in this country the same way as everyone else?

    Are they getting 24/7 electricity at their homes and don’t pay extra for a generator subscriptions like everyone of us?

    Do they get immediate admission to any hospital without paying a hefty deposit or calling their za3im?

    Aren’t they paying the same taxes like us? Or are they getting anything in return if they do?

    Don’t they feel forced to bribe government employees to get their things done sometimes?

    Were money changer providing them with dollars at the official rate or at 1,600 and 1,700 like the rest of us?

    Do these people find easy to buy an apartment nowadays? Are housing loans open to them?

    Do they have decent internet connections at home?

    When it rains continuously for two hours, do they get flooded in their cars like everyone else on the roads or they usually get immediately teleported to their homes?

    Do they feel like their salaries are worth less and less every year like everyone of us or are their savings magically increasing?

    Do they get free schooling for their kids?

    I can keep going but seriously, it is 2019 and w are all sharing this land called Lebanon, why do people still sheepily follow politicians instead of rallying behind qualified people…? Despite all this, it is ironic that the protesters’ demands are for the greater good of everyone, including those hardcore fans of the current political leaders.

    With 14 days since the uprising, PM Saad Hariri resigned yesterday and everybody seem clueless about what comes next. Whatever the outcome is though, let’s hope for less poor people beating each other and more wins against this rotten ruling class.

  • Mobile Postpaid Users Soon To Be Deprived of Their Monthly 60 Free Minutes

    Minister of Telecommunication Mohamed Choucair announced today that he is considering cancelling the 60 free minutes of local talk-time that postpaid subscriber get every month as part of setting the government budget for 2019.

    Minister Choucair made that suggestion based on his own assumption that postpaid subscriber are wealthy people who can afford to pay additional fees on their bills. I’m not making that up as he really explained it to LBCI’s reporter..! Noting that the additional money generated from that move should make up for the decrease in revenue that Touch and Alfa have reported for the year 2018 (a decrease of $200 million from 2017).

    Business people usually have a million ways to improve their offerings and their revenues at the same time and I’m sure increasing prices would never be on top of their list. This however doesn’t seem to be the case for Mohamed Choucair who did absolutely nothing for the telecom sector since he was appointed, and this doesn’t only show his lack of experience in the field, but also how desperate is the government to secure additional funds for the upcoming budget which is yet an additional proof of how bad is our monetary situation.

    At a time where countries around us are making a progress everyday in the telecom field, we specialize in appointing people who excel at pulling us backwards. Ya3tina l 3afyeh.

  • Uber and Careem No Longer Allowed to Pick Up Passengers from Beirut Airport

    Several news websites reported last week that a new decision (number 1/247) was issued by the Minister of Transport that aims to organize the operation of Taxi cabs at the airport, an urged taxi drivers to abide with it as of the first of April. No details were provided about that decision and the ministry website didn’t have any information, so it all sounded vague.

    A few days later I started hearing about people arriving to Beirut Airport not being able to meet their designated drivers at the exit and I just made sure yesterday it was because of that decision.

    A friend of mine arrived last night and tried to use Careem, but a few minutes later the driver called and told him he can no longer go beyond the army check point (around 700m away from the airport entrance), and that he should meet him there to pick him up. With too much distance to walk, my friend decided to simply cancel the ride and book one of the official airport taxi cars, except that they told him it will cost “around $50” to drive him to Dekwane which is ridiculously exorbitant, so he just said thanks and called one of his relatives to come take him instead.

    So whatever that decision states, it essentially no longer allows taxi river to pick up their arriving passengers from the parking lot as before in order to force people to use the official airport taxi drivers who are infamous for charging very high amount for a few kilometers rides. Therefore, in case you are arriving to Beirut anytime soon, make sure to arrange for a friend or relative to pick you up if you don’t want to bear unnecessary charges.

    Keep in mind that our so called tourism season should start in a few weeks from now, and this decision is basically the best way to kick it off!

    Update (April 5th 2019):

    Private taxi companies can pick up passengers from the airport only if they apply for a special permit from the syndicate of Lebanese taxi drivers for every ride they want to make.

    The permit should include the passengers name along with their flight details in order not to be used more than once.

    Update 2 (April 5th 2019):

    Minister of Transportation Youssef Fenianos just reversed his decision, so taxi drivers can pick up incoming passengers from the parking lot just like before.

  • A Chinese Trading Hub is Set to Open in Bekaa

    Business News announced today that Cascada Mall in Bekaa will soon transform into a Chinese trading hub called “Chinatown” that will serve the markets in Lebanon and the neighboring countries.

    The hub will be similar to Dubai’s Dragon Mart which is massive mall full of low cost Chinese products and good bargains (think of it like the offline version of Ali Express). I once went to it there and it is so big that you can literally waste a whole day moving from one shop to another in it. Chinatown will not be that big though as the premises stretch over 60,000m2 but the area should double in the near future as the owners claim.

    The project is expected to start operating by the end of April and will create no less than 5,000 job opportunities which is a great news to the Bekaa region.

    Thanks @ghazayel

  • Alfa Telecom Now Supports eSIM on iPhone

    Alfa Telecommunications announced two days ago that their network now supports eSIM built into iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR.

    For those who don’t know, an eSIM (or electronic SIM) serves the same purpose as that of a physical one, which is to store the data that authenticate your handset to the mobile network. However, in the case of the eSIM, the data are stored into a small chip that is built right into your phone. And in order to activate this eSIM you either download an app by your mobile operator or simply scan a QR code and your phone will be able to connect and make phone calls or use data plans.

    So if you are an Alfa subscriber and happen to own one of the new devices with eSIM support, you can head to one of their stores and get a QR code in order to activate a second line on your phone if you need to.

    I expect touch to also announce support for eSIM sometime soon since the two operators almost always end up having the same offerings.

    photo via Kaspersky Blog.

  • Jal El Dib Bridges Are Finally Open – Traffic is Even Worse Now

    Following two years of construction work in Jal El Dib, the two 2L bridges were finally open for traffic last Saturday.

    With the project completion, people were promised and actually expected the traffic to get better, except that it actually got worse, and I guess the outcome is simply logical. For cars coming from Jounieh towards Beirut, the road is effectively now narrower in Jal El Dib with an exist ramp follwed by an entrance ramp that eventually turbulate the traffic thanks to the way we drive around here. For example you always see drivers making a sharp right from the left lane to take the exit on the right and consequently slow down the traffic behind them.

    People in charge of road management definitely deserve a trophy. And for those who make the Jounieh-Beirut trip everyday and now have an additional bottleneck on their way, antidepressant pills maybe.

    photo via Lebanese Contractor Magazine

  • 2018 Box Office Results in Lebanon

    I know we’re so over 2018 but I always find it interesting to see statistics of people’s behavior and preferences in Lebanon. Few weeks ago, Rania Ghanem from Business News published a piece on the top ten movies at the box office in Lebanon during last as well as the market share for each movie theater chain.

    Teh result for the top ten movies came as follows:

    It is interesting to know that five of the top performing movies were Lebanese. However, aside from Nadine Labaki’s Capernaum, almost all the Lebanese movies got mocked and criticized on social platforms for their mediocre storyline and level of acting. This comes to prove that opinions on social networks in general are very far from representing the masses, just as in the case with politics for example. We hate on all politicians online, yet they easily win the elections. We all support civil marriage online, but the populations in general is in fact against it.

    The results also explain the increasing number of Lebanese movie every year. People in general seem to be enjoying them despite how mediocre they are, and Maguy Ghosn still has a lot to give!

    On the other hand, market share was distributed among the movie theater chains as follows:

    1. Grand Cinemas 38% (1.4 million visitors)
    2. Empire Cinemas 31% (1.2 million visitors)
    3. VOX Cinemas 15% (559,000 visitors)
    4. Cinemall 10% (379,000 visitors)
    5. Stargate 3% (112,000 visitors)
    6. Planete 2% (89,000 visitors)

    You can check the original article here.

  • Satellite Images Show Exorbitant Levels of Air Pollution in Lebanon

    The European Space Agency (ESA) recently released several maps showing air pollution around the world after measuring the level of nitrogen dioxide over major cities using their Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite.

    This gas is an air pollutant that comes from traffic and the combustion of fossil fuel in industrial areas. And needless to say, it causes health issues by irritating the lungs and causing respiratory problems. The data was collected between April and September 2018 and the above image shows the result for part of the Middle East.

    As you can see, almost all of Lebanon has very high levels of NO2 especially over the coast. And since we are by no means an industrial nation, the polluted air definitely comes from the massive number of cars and the diesel generators everywhere around the coutnry.

    On the other hand, the government is as passive as ever with no plan in sight to make things better. In fact the best thing they have in mind now is to build garbage incinerators which they believe are eco-friendly. So expect the next results from the Copernicus to have Lebanon on the map replaced with a piece of shit. Literally.

  • Lebanon Nature Reserves Are Open For Free This Sunday

    Minister of Environment Fadi Jreissati announced earlier this week that Lebanon’s nature reserves will be open for free to the public on Sunday March 10th for the occation of the National Day for Nature reserves.

    Access to the nature reserves isn’t much anyway, as I recall paying around 5,000L.L when I went to Arz El Shouf few years ago, but the announcement comes as a reminder for us all to actually go and learn about the value of these reserve with all the biological diversity they encompass.

    Here’s a list of the available nature reserves in Lebanon from Wikipedia and new other sources:

    • Ehden Forest
    • Nakheel Islands
    • Cedars of Tannourine Forest
    • Chnaneer
    • Arz Jaj
    • Bentael natural reserve.
    • Al Yammouna
    • Arz El Chouf
    • Tyre coast
    • Houjeir Valley
    • Karm Shobat
    • Nature reserves of Ramiyah, Kafra, Beit Leef and Dibil.

    Photos via lebanontraveler.com