agencies
His Excellency Al-Shami, Deputy Prime Minister of the Lebanese Government, regarding “the bankruptcy of the state and the Central Bank of Lebanon” ignited social media sites in Lebanon and other Arab countries that suffer from the same economic and financial problems.
In response to a question regarding the distribution of the losses of the Lebanese state, Al-Shami said during a television interview that “the losses will be distributed to the state, the Banque du Liban, the banks and the depositors.
After the great controversy caused by Al-Shami’s statements, he explained that his words regarding the contribution of the state and the Bank of Lebanon to addressing the banking crisis “has been cut”, noting that “people are unanimously agreed that negotiating with the IMF is a path to a solution and not a solution in itself, and we are working for Reaching an agreement with the IMF on an economic and financial recovery program that can save the country from the current crisis, revealing that there is a possibility of reaching an agreement at the end of this round.
On Monday, Central Bank of Lebanon Governor Riad Salameh denied the bank’s bankruptcy, explaining that the bank is still continuing to perform its role entrusted to it by law, despite the financial sector’s losses.
For his part, the Lebanese Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, said that the statements of his deputy, Al-Shami, “were intended to be liquidity, not solvency,” stressing that “Al-Shami’s statement was published in a fragmented manner.”
His Excellency Al-Shami, Deputy Prime Minister of the Lebanese Government, declared the state and the Central Bank of Lebanon bankrupt, and said that the losses would be distributed to the state, the Banque du Liban, banks and depositors.
Saadeh explained that “the losses will be distributed to the state, the Banque du Liban, banks and depositors, and there is no specific percentage. Unfortunately, the state is bankrupt and so is the Bank of Lebanon, and we want to come out with a result, and the loss occurred due to policies for decades, and if we did nothing, the loss would be much greater.”
In an interview with Al-Jadeed channel, Al-Shami said: “There is a fact that cannot be ignored, we cannot live in a state of denial, and we cannot open (banking) withdrawals for all people, and I wish that if we were in a normal state.”
Regarding the negotiations with the International Monetary Fund, he said, “We are in the midst of negotiations with the International Monetary Fund and are in daily contact with the IMF, and for the first time this large mission has come and we have made great progress with the IMF negotiations.”
He continued, “We hope to reach an agreement in this round or in another round. Negotiations are currently focusing on several topics, namely, reforming and restructuring the banking sector, a balanced fiscal policy to serve the public debt, reforming the public sector and electricity, unifying the exchange rate, monetary policy and addressing inflation.
He pointed out that the “KPMG” company is auditing the Banque du Liban, and that the bank is undertaking an inventory of the quantities of gold in its possession, and has already started the inventory process.
It is noteworthy that the Lebanese Prime Minister had asked the United Nations, last March, to support Lebanon in the file of food security, according to the plan of the United Nations to face the repercussions of the Ukrainian crisis on the economies of the world.
Lebanon has also witnessed an accelerating economic collapse since 2019, as the local currency lost regarding 82% of its value once morest the dollar, according to what was announced by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA).