The euro dived Tuesday to a new two-decade dollar low and equities wavered, as data highlighted the shrinking Eurozone economy and the worsening energy crunch.

The single currency, hit also by the U.S. Federal Reserve's rate-hiking plans before this week's hotly-awaited comments from Chair Jerome Powell, tumbled to $0.9901.

The euro pushed further below parity with the dollar on Monday, hitting its lowest level since 2002, the year it came into physical circulation, as recession fears mounted.

The euro was down 0.84 percent to $0.9951 at 1525 GMT .

The Central Bank and the Ministry of Energy have informed oil importing companies that gasoline subsidization will be lowered by another 15% as of the beginning of this week, LBCI TV reported on Monday.

According to the new scheme, the importing companies will now get 45% of their dollars through the Sayrafa platform and 55% from the black market. Under the previous scheme, they used to get 70% of their dollars via Sayrafa and 30% from the black market.

A new gas discovery off Cyprus' southern coast that's estimated to contain around 2.5 trillion cubic feet of the hydrocarbon bolsters Europe's efforts to secure alternative energy sources, the Cypriot energy ministry said Monday, as a supply crisis triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues to trouble the continent.

The Ministry said in a statement that the discovery by partners Eni of Italy and France's Total was made at the Cronos-1 well 160 kilometers (100 miles) off the coast in 2,287 meters (7,500 feet) of water inside Cyprus' exclusive economic zone and is the second deposit that the Eni-Total consortium has discovered there.

China has gained a major foothold in oil-rich Iraq, shaking up Western domination in fields from energy to construction, even as some warn that infrastructure projects could leave Baghdad in debt.

After decades of conflict, Iraq is "badly in need of foreign investment, and specifically investment in energy sector infrastructure", said John Calabrese of the Middle East Institute in Washington.

The Entrepreneurship in the MENA survey, conducted recently by Bayt.com, a leading job site in the Gulf and Middle East, and market research agency YouGov, has found that nearly three-quarters (73%) of Lebanon respondents would like to be self-employed or have their own business if given the choice.

The survey found that even among those who are employed, 65% are currently thinking of starting their own business. 17% of respondents have tried to start their own business in the past, while 8% never thought of establishing a new company. Be my own boss (48%), freedom to choose work-life balance (42%), personal fulfilment (40%) and build a business my children can inherit (36%) emerge as the top reasons for preferring to be self-employed.

The euro fell back under dollar parity on Monday, hit by expectations the Federal Reserve will stick to its interest rate-hiking plans.

In morning trade, the European single currency slid as low as $0.9990, dented also by growing fears of winter energy shortages in Europe.

Qatar recently arrested at least 60 foreign workers who protested going months without pay and deported some of them, an advocacy group said, just three months before Doha hosts the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

The move comes as Qatar faces intense international scrutiny over its labor practices ahead of the tournament. Like other Gulf Arab nations, Qatar heavily relies on foreign labor. The workers' protest a week ago — and Qatar's reaction to it — could further fuel the concern.

The French presidency on Friday denied any "obstacles" hindering Russian agriculture exports, which the Kremlin claimed after a call between President Vladimir Putin and Emmanuel Macron.

Sri Lanka's central bank chief said Thursday he hopes the government can reach a preliminary agreement that could lead to a bailout package with the International Monetary Fund when its officials visit the crisis-hit island nation later this month.

The Indian Ocean country is effectively bankrupt and its economic crisis set off massive public protests that led to the ouster of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa last month. The government has said the crisis has made the negotiations with the IMF difficult.