At $671,233 per HOUR, we do not have much time to act
Approximately three years after I published my last blog, I have decided to return and keep seeking to discover the answers to the eternal puzzle of Lebanon's governance.
Since the year 2015, things have changed for the worse in our country (as I have warned and predicted a thousand times in the past). Our Public Debt has increased by some eighteen billion dollars and, though a President of the Republic was elected, and the long awaited parliamentary elections have finally taken place, the Government has not yet been formed.
This is worrying, because some essential decisions ought to be adopted soon, but a caretaker government such as the present one, cannot adopt them, let alone implement them.
Some readers would ask me: "But why are you worried, at this stage? According to the Press, the discussions are proceeding and the new government is expected to be formed within the next two or three weeks, once the Adha Eid is over and our leaders are back from their official or private visits abroad.
I would have numerous answers to that question, but the first one that comes to my mind is:
Approximately three years after I published my last blog, I have decided to return and keep seeking to discover the answers to the eternal puzzle of Lebanon's governance.
Since the year 2015, things have changed for the worse in our country (as I have warned and predicted a thousand times in the past). Our Public Debt has increased by some eighteen billion dollars and, though a President of the Republic was elected, and the long awaited parliamentary elections have finally taken place, the Government has not yet been formed.
This is worrying, because some essential decisions ought to be adopted soon, but a caretaker government such as the present one, cannot adopt them, let alone implement them.
Some readers would ask me: "But why are you worried, at this stage? According to the Press, the discussions are proceeding and the new government is expected to be formed within the next two or three weeks, once the Adha Eid is over and our leaders are back from their official or private visits abroad.
I would have numerous answers to that question, but the first one that comes to my mind is:
- We do not have that much time, because every hour that passes costs us, presently, six hundred and seventy-one thousand dollars.
I am sure that most readers, at this stage, would unbelievingly, take my answer with a pinch of salt. They would think that I must have been drinking something very potent to utter such an unbelievable statement. So, I ought to explain. Our Public Debt has reached today $84 billion dollars (this amount is acknowledged by the Authorities), and the interest rate on that Debt is currently seven per cent (that is also officially stated). If the reader can go to EXCEL on his computer he/she will be able to calculate easily the hourly interest on $84 billion dollars at 7%, and the precise answer would be:US$671,233, PER HOUR.
So, it is my turn, presently, to ask a question: "AT SUCH A PRICE, DO WE HAVE MUCH TIME LEFT TO ACT?
Dear Readers, allow me, at this stage to leave you to ponder over these undeniable facts. In my next blog I shall delve a little bit deeper into the"abyss "to try to find a SOLUTION TO THE PUZZLE!
