Lebanese public sector pay cut in half

Military pensioners and angry public sector workers held demonstrations on Thursday after being told that their already eroded pay had effectively been cut in half overnight.

The cut will take effect in April when the government calculates salaries using an exchange rate of one US dollar to 90,000 Lebanese pounds, double the rate used in February. The black-market rate, which many shops use, is now more than 100,000 pounds to the dollar. Four years ago, it was closer to 2,000.

According to the protesters, the change means that “the purchasing power of their salaries has been totally eroded.”

Bechara Al-Asmar, the head of Lebanon’s General Labor Union, told Arab News that the change hit 280,000 people including military personnel and employees of universities, independent offices, municipalities and public hospitals.

Hundreds of military pensioners and professors protested in the Riad Al-Solh square in central Beirut on Thursday, denouncing Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh’s announcement of the change and demanding that their salaries be paid at 28,500 pounds to the dollar instead.

A retired officer said: “My salary used to amount to $1,700 before the economic crisis in Lebanon, but its value deteriorated with the currency collapse. Last month, I received a salary that amounts to no more than $140 according to the black-market rate.

“This month, I might receive no more than $60. How can my family and I survive? This is how they pay back the military, who spent their lives serving the country?”

Protesters held banners condemning the policy, ongoing corruption and the disregard for public and depositors’ funds.

Security bodies had taken strict measures before the protests began, reinforcing barbed wire fencing to prevent protesters from reaching the headquarters of the prime minister.

The protests coincided with an ongoing strike by telecommunications workers. A Cabinet meeting scheduled on Thursday to look at salaries and assistance was postponed until next week after caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati traveled to Saudi Arabia for Umrah.

Finance Minister Youssef Khalil said that a full Cabinet meeting was a “necessity” to decide on a “sustainable” settlement for public workers.

Khalil warned that the treasury would lose “significant resources due to the disruption of public utilities, at a time when it urgently needs to secure imports and finance minimal public services.”

He said: “Lebanon is at a dangerous juncture today. Either we maintain a state entity and institutions capable of administering the affairs of the state, or we will be facing further deterioration and we will plunge into the unknown.”

Protesters in the Riad Al-Solh square marched to the central bank headquarters in Hamra Street as army and security forces took up positions around them.

Some in the crowd managed to get past barbed wire fencing to climb to a rooftop. One protester was injured when he fell after anti-riot squad police released pepper spray.

Demonstrators also set tires on fire, blocking the road in front of the central bank.

Salameh said that demands for a lower rate required Cabinet discussion. He asked a delegation of retired military officers to wait until after the weekend for further talks.