The Secretary-General of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, rejected the idea of raising the customs dollar "in one blow" to around twenty thousand lira in his speech last Friday. Following this stance, member of the "Loyalty to the Resistance" bloc, MP Hassan Fadlallah, stated that "the path to financial and economic salvation for Lebanon has become clear, and it is through extracting oil and gas; all other options do not lead us to financial and economic recovery (...). We, at the level of the Loyalty to the Resistance bloc, have set a number of criteria based on which we agree or disagree within the Finance Committee and later in the general assembly; among these is that the general public should not bear the increases. Therefore, when the customs dollar was proposed at twenty thousand lira, we did not take a position and exit, but rather objected, saying that this does not belong in the Finance Committee but should be addressed by the government according to its powers. We presented alternatives because we care about the country, the state treasury, and public finances that must come to the citizens. We did not approve or accept to pass such a matter concerning the customs dollar, and we conducted the necessary political contacts to reconsider the direction taken to impose a price of twenty thousand lira for the customs dollar, due to its significant impacts on the general economic level for all Lebanese, especially since there is no effective oversight on prices." He added, "The other matter in the budget is the debate on what dollar price will be imposed on fees and taxes, because there are fees and taxes in the budget based on the price of twenty thousand lira. This issue was also rejected in the Finance and Budget Committee, and we refused to entrust the government with determining the price, stating that this has another path. We do not want to burden the general public with the repercussions of this, which pushes us to strive harder with the officials, who should not look for easy and soft areas, which are the pockets of the people, but should look for buried wealth in the waters, as there many problems can be addressed."
According to opposition political sources for "Al Markazia", the positions of the opposition forces against the government have collectively agreed from the very beginning that raising the customs dollar to twenty thousand, in isolation from a comprehensive rescue plan, would not be a solution. This same stance was echoed by economic and financial specialists who warned of catastrophic reverse effects of such a decision on the living, industrial, and commercial realities in a country that is already in collapse. Even the spiritual authorities from all sects and denominations raised their voices against such a painful step. However, none of these parties claimed to have abolished the current customs dollar project, as Hezbollah did, with its MP Fadlallah stating, "We conducted the necessary political contacts to reconsider the direction taken to impose a price of twenty thousand lira for the customs dollar." So far, the sources continue, the project proposal has not yet died, but it is on the brink, and if the customs dollar is approved, it will not be at the price of twenty thousand. However, is the negative stance taken by the party alone what changed the directions of Prime Minister Najib Mikati and the Finance Committee regarding customs, or did all the scientific and technical warnings contribute to demonstrating that the decision is not correct or healthy? Mikati's answer to this question would be useful for public opinion both locally and externally, and particularly for the party's environment, the sources conclude.
