AUB Says Staff to Endure Significant Pay Cuts
The American University of Beirut, one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in the Middle East, has become the latest institution in Lebanon to announce it is facing a financial crisis due to what it said is a "confluence of calamities" starting with the collapse of the Lebanese economy and compounded by the coronavirus pandemic.
It said staff would endure significant pay reductions and that steps under consideration include furloughs as well as the closure of some programs and departments.
Lebanon is in the thick of its worst economic crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war, compounded by the coronavirus epidemic.
Forty-five percent of Lebanon's population now lives below the poverty line, and tens of thousands of people have lost their jobs or seen their salaries slashed as a result of the downturn.
The Lebanese pound has been selling for more than 4,000 to the dollar on the black market in recent weeks in a record low.
Source: Associated Press, Agence France Presse
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