A meeting was held between Caretaker Minister of Industry Imad Hoballah, accompanied by a delegation from the Association of Lebanese Industrialists, with Governor of the Banque du Liban Riad Salameh, where they discussed the subsidy on raw materials that is still pending, especially those that have been approved on, and which funds have not been paid so far

The statement issued after the meeting, pointed out that Salameh assured the delegation during the meeting that “all subsidy files related to medicines have been approved upon,” promising to “review the relevant departments in the Banque du Liban regarding the files that are still pending and proceed with it.

Shortage of diesel and the serious damage that it causes to the Lebanese factories was also discussed, In this regard, the governor clarified that he has opened all the required credits to secure diesel and gasoline to the market, revealing that “The credits that he opened in the first six months of 2021 for the purchase of fuel is equal to the consumption of 2020 and also the consumption of 2019, and the same applies to medicines and other subsidized materials”, attributing  the high demand on diesel and gasoline to two factors, citizens are either storing these two substances or smuggling them, and in both cases this causes severe damage to the Lebanese economy.”

The statement indicated that Salameh asked the industrialists “to be prepared for the next stage,  and to search for other sources to finance the import of raw materials, as the Banque du Liban is heading towards lifting the subsidies permanently.”