Ever since European seaports closed their gates to Iranian oil tankers last summer, Iran has looked to the East to keep its economy afloat. Countries such as China, India and South Korea — some of them critics of Western sanctions — have offered Iran a lifeline of reliable markets and much-needed dollars.
Will Syria’s Dwindling Reserves Bring Down the Regime?
With more than 40,000 people killed in Syria’s devastating war, and about three million people driven from their homes, Western and Arab leaders are grappling with one question: How and when does all this end? The answer, say some, might lie not in the horrific bloodshed but in a simpler factor: money.
Cabinet appoints government body to oversee oil sector
The Lebanese cabinet met on Wednesday at the Baabda presidential palace and approved the appointment of the six member oil regulatory authority ( or National Oil Company of Lebanon ) that will be charged with managing the oil / gas sector of the economy including the launching of the bidding process and issuing the required […]
Strained Syrian army calls up reserves; some flee
Syria is calling up former soldiers from the reserves to active army service in growing numbers, a sign of the strain of efforts to crush the 17-month-old revolt against President Bashar al-Assad. Several fleeing reservists and a serving army officer told Reuters that thousands of men had been called up
48 Iranian pilgrims kidnapped in Syria, report
Iranian state TV says gunmen have kidnapped 48 Iranian pilgrims visiting a holy site revered by Shiites in a suburb of the Syrian capital, Damascus.
Lebanon’s Salameh : We are not worried about a bubble
Lebanese Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh discusses the exposure of the country’s banks to government debt as well as the latest efforts to insulate the lenders from a crisis in neighboring Syria. He spoke in an interview today at his office in Beirut. On economic growth: “The indicators are showing that the real growth could […]
Sanctions Pose Growing Threat to Syria’s Assad
BEIRUT, Lebanon — The Syrian economy is buckling under the pressure of sanctions by the West and a continuing popular uprising, posing a growing challenge to President Bashar al-Assad’s government as the pain is felt deeply by nearly every layer of Syrian society.