Public sector protests further salary devaluation on new Sayrafa rate

Protesters, including retired soldiers, rallied Thursday at Riad al-Solh's square, facing the Grand Serail, to demand better pay as public sector employees start this month withdrawing their salaries at the LL90,000 Sayrafa rate.

The protesters tried again to break through the fence leading to the Grand Serail.

Last week, security forces fired tear gas to disperse retired soldiers, who tried to break through the fence.

Retired soldiers also rallied in front of the Central Bank in Hamra to protest the new Sayrafa rate and clashed with riot police and troops as they tried to storm the bank.

Public sector employees withdrew last month their LBP salaries in dollars at the LBP45,000 rate according to a decision adopted on February by the Central Bank.

This month, they will withdraw their LBP salaries in dollars at the new LBP90,000 Sayrafa rate, which means that a public sector employee's salary will lose 50% of its value.

The pound has lost more than 95% of its value over the past three years. The official rate is 15,000 pounds to the dollar but the pound was trading for more than 100,000 to the dollar on Thursday.

Public sector employees who get paid in Lebanese pounds are allowed to withdraw their salaries in dollars on a better rate than the black market's 107,000 but the value of their salaries is still too low and got worse this month as the pound further crashed.

They say their salaries are not enough for education, medications and electricity provided by private generators amid a collapse of the state's power grid.

Most grocery stores, restaurants and other businesses have opted to start pricing their goods and services in dollars. While this “dollarization” aims to ease inflation and stabilize the economy, it also threatens to push more people into poverty and deepen the crisis.

Former MP and former brigadier general Chamel Roukoz joined the protest in front of the Central Bank.

"It's a shame that they are putting soldiers against retired soldiers, in order to escape (their responsibilities)" Roukoz said, stressing that the protests should go on until the retirees' demands are met.

LBCI reported that the Central Bank will allow the retired soldiers to withdraw their salaries on a LBP60,000 rate instead of 90.

"That's not enough," Roukoz said, stressing that the soldiers' demand is a 28.5 rate and urging for a full dollarization of the salaries.