The joint parliamentary committees, which held a meeting on Tuesday, approved a draft bill amending the Currency and Credit Code, to authorize the Central Bank to issue new banknotes larger than LBP 100,000. The text, which was presented by MP Ziad Hawat (Lebanese Forces), must still be voted on in plenary session, when such a meeting is held.
Concluding the meeting of the committees that he chaired, Parliament Vice-Speaker Elias Bou Saab said that the deputies added the expression “or any other value” to articles 4, 5 and 6 of the Code, relating to banknotes and coins.
Once voted, the text will allow the issuance of banknotes of LBP 500,000, LBP 1,000,000, or more. Currently, due to the financial crisis and the devaluation of the pound, citizens find themselves carrying large wads of cash. The dollar, which traded at almost LBP 1,500 until 2019, officially rose to LBP 15,000, but trades at almost LBP 95,000 on parallel markets.
In addition, a subcommittee has been formed to examine the bill presented by Qassem Hashem (Amal bloc), aimed at reducing the prison year from 9 to 6 months in order to decrease the number of inmates in prisons. Bou Saab explained that this overcrowding results mainly from the presence of detainees who have not been tried, nearly 80 percent of prisoners, an issue not addressed by the bill.
The deputies also studied a bill submitted by deputy Faycal Karamé, relating to the creation of a new fund to help the poor, which would be fed by an increase in VAT by three percentage points. A subcommittee will be formed at the next meeting of the joint committees, a lack of quorum having occurred on Tuesday.
Bou Saab regretted the absence of ministers who had been invited to the meeting, as well as the absence of the governor of the Central Bank Riad Salamé. In this context, he called on the governor to “take the appropriate decision,” following the proceedings brought against him.
