Yahoo Finance Reforms fail to please Lebanon's protesters
Emergency reforms by Lebanon's government failed to appease protests that have wracked the country for days.
On Tuesday (October 21) demonstrators unhappy with the economy were still on the streets nationwide.
In Beirut, they sang and danced into the night.
On Monday (October 20) Lebanon approved a raft of reforms aimed at taming furious protests.
Top officials will see their salaries slashed by half, and there are plans to tackle Lebanon's huge debt.
Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri, in a televised speech, said the new measures might not meet the protesters' demands but were a start towards achieving some of them.
Demonstrators on the ground were unconvinced.
(SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) ASSAD THEBIAN, ACTIVIST, SAYING:
"We are used to Hariri's promises, before the elections he promised 900,000 jobs, they all promised reforms and to fight corruption, and here were are a year and a half later, what a lie, they claim to change and they are the ones who are corrupt themselves.''
Despite the reform package, Lebanon's dollar-denominated bonds took heavy losses afterward.
Some sank to record lows on Monday.
Investors said the turmoil on the streets showed time was running out for Lebanon to fix its economic woes.
