Loans guaranteed by Kafalat down by 19 percent. Agriculture sector gained the largest share

The number of loans guaranteed by Kafalat declined by a yearly 19 percent to 676 in 2015. The volume of loans reached $93 million, a decrease by more than 14 percent.

The agriculture sector registered the largest share with 47 percent of these loans. "This is due to the increasing range of Kafalat products offered to farmers to finance reforestation, trees and other projects," said Yolla Sarieddine, at Kafalat.

The industry sector came in second, with 34 percent, followed by the t...

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Islamic Bank loan for hydropower plants. Part of the Beirut Water Supply Project

The Council of Ministers approved yesterday a loan agreement with the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) to fund the remaining part of the Water Supply Augmentation Project. The funds will be used for the construction of two hydropower plants generating over 12 megawatts, a wastewater treatment plant, and a secondary water treatment plant.

The value of the loan is $128 million, according to Elie Moussalli, Project Director at the Council for Development and Reconstruction (CDR). These will b...

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Speed@BDD invests $180,000 in startups. First batch to seek more investment

Speed@BDD, a tech startup accelerator, said it has invested $180,000 in its first batch of startups and offered them a three-month acceleration program.

The investment was equally divided among the six startups with each receiving $30,000 to develop its idea. Speed@BDD also provided free hosting and various services that included mentorship and product and business development as well as accounting and legal services.

The startups pitched their businesses and showcased their produ...

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BDL assets at $91 billion up by a yearly six percent. Assets from exchange operations of financial instruments was main growth driver

The Central Bank's (BDL) assets grew by 6.1 percent to $91.4 billion at the end of 2015 compared with the end of 2014.

The growth was mainly driven by assets from exchange operations of financial instruments, which totaled $11.6 billion at the end of 2015 compared with nil a year earlier.

BDL's securities portfolio also contributed to the total asset growth as it surged 29 percent to $18.1 billion. The increase was due to purchases of Treasury bills by the Central Bank, which had ...

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Central Bank extends subsidized loan program. Beneficiaries include small businesses and home buyers

The Central Bank (BDL) has extended to the end of 2016 the 60 percent exemption of reserve requirements for certain loans denominated in lira. The exempted funds may be used by banks to extend soft loans for housing or business financing.

The loans that are subject to the extension are those that do not benefit from other interest subsidies by the State. The loans should be used to finance new projects or the expansion of existing projects in the productive sectors (as specified by BDL, ...

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30 percent of corporate income goes on taxes. 20 different duties are paid yearly

The aggregate corporate tax rate was 30 percent, which represents the total of all taxes borne as a percentage of commercial profit. The time to comply with all tax formalities was 183 hours. The total tax rate reflected all taxes and contributions that a standardized medium-sized domestic company pays within a specific year, according to 'The Ease of Paying Taxes in the World', a report published by PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) and the World Bank (WB). Taxes and contributions that local medium...

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Berytech Fund invests $20 million. Equity injected in 12 local SMEs

Berytech Fund II has invested nearly $20 million since its inception ten months ago, said Paul Chucrallah, Fund Managing Director. These equity investments were injected in 12 small companies in the telecommunications, digital content, and industrial design sectors, he said.

"This is a breakthrough achieved in such a short period of time as the fund is supposed to invest its capital, amounting to $51.5 million, over a period of four years," Chucrallah said.

The SMEs that the fund h...

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Beirut bourse outperforms Arab markets. Local exchange down two percent while major regionals down by two digits

The Beirut Stock Exchange (BSE) has performed better than all the Arab stock markets in 2015 (counting figures from the first 11 months), with the exception of the Palestinian bourse.

The BSE declined by only 1.8 percent. The Saudi stock market dropped by 13 percent, Qatar went down by 18 percent and Dubai by 15 percent. The greatest plunge was in Iraq and Egypt, whose bourses plummeted by 30 percent and 29 percent, respectively. Only the relatively small Palestine bourse had a slightly ...

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Solidere shares 30 percent up. Good time to buy

Solidere gained $412.6 million in market capitalization since November 10, two days before the Parliament sessions that approved crucial financial laws.

There are some indicators of positive developments on the local political scene, said Marwan Mikhael Head of the Research Department at Blominvest Bank. Solidere stock is a 'political barometer' because it is very sensitive to political and security developments in the country, notwithstanding the company's performance, he said.

M...

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Central Bank sets rules for incubators and accelerators. Knowledge economy to account for five percent of GDP by 2030

Incubators and accelerators are allowed to invest only up to five percent in the capital of each startup company that benefits from their support, according to a circular by the Central Bank (BDL) issued recently.

"BDL is keen to determine the goal of each investor in startups," said Marwan Mikhael, Head of Research at Blominvest Bank. "Instead of having high shares in a target company and provide it with a priority, BDL considers that incubators and accelerators should be neutral and ser...

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