...an Iranian colony situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozeen flavors of Christians. It is the home of Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...will run out of money to fund basic imports by the end of May and delays in launching a plan to reduce subsidies are costing $500 million a month, the caretaker finance minister, Ghazi Wazni, said.
As Lebanon’s economy crumbles, the central bank has asked the caretaker cabinet to decide how to gradually lift subsidies to ration remaining foreign currency reserves, Wazni told Rooters on Thursday.
"The government must speed this up. The cost of wasting time is very high. With every delay, it becomes higher," he said.
Lebanon’s financial meltdown is fueling hunger and unrest in the country’s gravest crisis since its 1975-1990 civil war.
The subsidy plan scales down a list of subsidized foods from 300 to 100 goods, reduces fuel and medicine subsidies and introduces a ration card for 800,000 poor families, to roughly halve $6 billion in annual spending on subsidies, Wazni said.
The overall subsidy plan will have to get the green light from parliament since it must approve funding for the cards, and the caretaker prime minister in turn wants the introduction of the cards tied to subsidy removal, he said, outlining a process that will likely take time.
Meanwhile,
...back at the game, the Babe headed for second base. He almost made it. Then Sheila slapped him....
foreign reserves are draining away faster than officials are making serious moves to ration the money left, back key imports and help the most vulnerable.
The currency has lost most of its value since late 2019, making more than half the population poor as prices soar.
Still, politicians have yet to agree a rescue plan or a new government since the outgoing administration quit in August over the massive Beirut port explosion that killed 200 people.
Already, a year has passed since Caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab cited dangerously low reserves when he declared Lebanon’s sovereign default.