Minister of Economy Refers Price Manipulators and Hoarders to Financial Prosecutor: "We Will Not Stand Idle"

Minister of Economy and Trade, Dr. Amir Al-Bassat, has referred an urgent judicial file to the Financial Public Prosecutor. The file includes the names of importers, distributors, business owners, and private electricity generator operators, against whom documented violations have been recorded, requiring investigation for price manipulation, hoarding, and blatant exploitation of the exceptional circumstances caused by the war.

Minister Al-Bassat affirmed: "The ministry will not stand idle in the face of those who turn the suffering of the Lebanese people into an opportunity for illicit profits," stressing that "any rise in fuel and transportation costs does not justify exploiting citizens or triggering an artificial inflation wave."

Results from intensive daily inspections conducted by the Consumer Protection Directorate across Lebanon revealed serious and repeated violations, most notably exceeding legal profit margins, imposing unjustified price increases on citizens, refusing to sell, and using the war as a pretext to extort the market.

The ministry clarified that "some of these violators had previously been issued official violation reports, yet they repeated the same actions, in blatant defiance of the law and clearly betting on the limited effectiveness of financial penalties."

Minister Al-Bassat called on the Financial Public Prosecutor to "take immediate judicial measures and pursue the perpetrators with the strictest penalties allowed by law," announcing that "the ministry will continue field inspections relentlessly, and anyone tampering with the markets or exploiting the war conditions will face full accountability."