The Beiruter

European central banks are reconsidering where they store their gold as geopolitical tensions force governments to weigh easy access to their reserves against greater control over national wealth.

China’s revised National Defense Mobilization Law aims to shorten the transition from peacetime to a wartime economy by preparing and testing how civilian resources could be converted into military capacity before a conflict begins.

Lebanon’s Social Security Fund begins major reforms to restore benefits, introduce pensions, improve governance, and modernize social protection systems.

Lebanon’s 2026 tourism season suffered from war, declining arrivals and weaker spending, leaving businesses with mounting losses and recovery dependent on restored stability and confidence.

France’s €135 million in support to Lebanon in 2025 targeted essential services, highlighting the challenge of turning international aid into lasting economic recovery.

From wartime savings to everyday payments, Lebanon’s relationship with the dollar has lasted for decades. This article reveals how instability, banking crises, and loss of trust turned the US currency from a safety net into a permanent part of Lebanese life.

Lebanon’s draft Financial Gap Law promises to repay depositors in full, but the market, a hostage negotiation and the central bank’s own balance sheet have already priced the same claim between 12 and 18 percent, and at those rates the promise is worth a fifth of its face value.

Southern Lebanon’s losses go beyond $1.3 billion in physical damage, as war has disrupted businesses, agriculture, jobs and investment, making economic recovery dependent on stability, reconstruction and rebuilding trust.

Banks are experimenting with tokenized deposits that could make money faster and easier to transfer, but the same technology could challenge the stability of deposits that banks rely on to fund lending.

Lebanon’s long-awaited pension reform promises a lifetime retirement income for workers, but its success depends on implementing 14 pending decrees, building the system’s institutions, and ensuring the state can turn the reform from a legal text into real social protection.

As Lebanon’s back-to-school costs soar, families face thousands of dollars in supplies, transportation and tuition while teachers remain underpaid and schools struggle to collect fees.