Industrialists fear new economic policies

No intentions to scrub subsidy on industrial loans: Finance Ministry reassures

The Ministry of Finance rebuffed, in a statement Wednesday (September 28), reports that the government intends to cancel the subsidy on loans to industries.

The ministry confirmed that the government “is keen to provide the best circumstances to promote local industry and boost the competitiveness of the sector.”

The Association of Lebanese Industrialists (ALI) had warned the State against suspending or slashing its subsidy on loans offered to industrialists. ALI’s Vice-President, Ziad Bekdache said that the Minister of Finance, Mohamad Safadi, has ruled out the subsidy on loans provided to industrialists in the 2012 budget plan.

Local industrialists are protesting the rise in production costs - spurred by a global rise in prices of oil - as well as the hardships of exportation in light of the turmoil that has struck neighboring economies.