Minister of Industry, Dr. Imad Hoballah, on Thursday held a press conference, in which he detailed the conditions to benefit from the Lebanese Central Bank’s circular #556, which supports the financing of imported industrial raw materials.
The Minister also gave a briefing on the agreement between the Ministry of Industry and the Association of Banks in Lebanon (ABL) in support of the industrial sector.
“Since the government assumed its duties, it has endeavored to launch and adopt the ‘Productive Lebanon’ slogan due to the fact that production is one of the economy’s most important pillars of growth; it provides employment, investments, sustainable development, job opportunities, local stability, stable currency, not to mention mitigate trade deficit,” Hoballah explained.
He went on to laud Lebanon as a country rich with intellectual and creative resources; however, he regretted the absence of the needed primary resources for the country’s industrialization.
Touching on the financial calamity that Industrialists have been facing since the beginning of the economic crisis in Lebanon, after which most industry owners have suffered securing cash to transfer their money abroad to purchase raw materials, Hoballah said that the Ministry of Industry had exerted major efforts with the Lebanese Central Bank to thrash out this fundamental dilemma.
“After extensive negotiations and meetings, the Central Bank issued circular #556, through which licensed institutions or industrial companies can benefit to import all of their industrial raw materials for the purpose of using them in local industries,” clarified Hoballah.
He went on to say that the mechanism included three stages. “The first stage involves the customs administration to obtain import data; the second stage involves the Ministry of Industry, where industrialists submit their dossiers with the required documents, after which the ministry studies the file, and based on the data, grants approval and transfers accepted requests to the Central Bank; the third stage involves commercial banks to transfer funds, which comprise 90% of industrial deposits and 10% of new fresh money.”
He highlighted the fact that the aforementioned mechanism allowed industrialists’ funds to be mobilized in a bid to facilitate the purchase of raw materials from abroad.
The Minister further delved into the details of the funds to be supporting the implementation of the aforementioned procedures. He said that the first fund was worth $75 million ($25 million from Lebanese Central Bank and $50 million from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development EBRD), in addition to $75 million for importers, who will benefit from the Oxygen Fund when it is established.
Hoballah added that the second fund had a value of approximately $350 to $550 million ($100 million from the Central Bank), in which foreign investment institutions and other investors contributed to a value of approximately $250 and $450 million.
“This will pave the way for industrialists and other investors to subscribe. The amounts of all funds revolve 3 times annually,” the Minister explained.
“As for the agreement with the ABL, it is very important as it involves rescheduling the previous debts of industrialists, and the adoption of reduced interest rates, as well as giving them new facilitated loans with a low interest rate,” he added.
Hoballah concluded by pinning great hope on Lebanon’s industrial sector, saying that it has great opportunities to expand in many sectors, especially in the new information technology industry, the food industry, the pharmaceutical industry, and other sectors that are also related to the service and conference industry.
“The foundation for growth is to balance [import and export] payments and to reduce trade deficit. This can only be achieved by increasing exports and securing hard currency from abroad instead of solely relying on imports,” Hoballah added, reminding the Lebanese of their duty to encourage and buy Lebanese products.
Source: NNA
