Maurice Matta, 30/01 09:15 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
In a surprising move just days before her retirement, Judge Helena Iskandar, Head of the Litigation Department at the Ministry of Justice, filed two motions before the State Council, requesting the Lebanese State’s intervention in the lawsuits aimed at annulling Circulars No.151 and No.165, submitted by lawyers. The conclusion was that the ...
This is Beirut, 2024-12-27 13:45 - Reading : less than a minute
On Friday, the Banque du Liban (BDL) issued a circular asking banks to pay two monthly installments to beneficiaries of circulars 158 and 166, which concern exceptional bank withdrawals of fresh dollars, at the beginning of January. Depositors benefiting from Circular 158 will receive $800 in cash instead of $400, while those benefiting from ...
Maurice Matta, 2024-12-27 11:00 - Reading : 5 minute(s)
The relevant departments of the Banque du Liban (BDL) have finalized a comprehensive study on deposits and accounts held in Lebanese banks. This study distinguishes between “fresh accounts,” opened after October 17, 2019, and “dollar accounts,” which refer to legacy accounts established before that date. Commissioned by the acting ...
This Is Beirut, 2024-02-28 12:52 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
The Council of Ministers started at 4 PM discussing their agenda. Among the 27 items on this agenda, one is related to the restructuring of banks, and another has to do with the demands of the civil servants who went on strike. They require a salary raise and better social benefits. Prior to the opening of the meeting, caretaker Minister for ...
Nicolas Sbeih, 2024-02-22 08:49 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
The suspenseful series of "crisis exit plans" is continuing with great success on the government's encrypted channel, maintaining the same theme but varying in style and appellation. Over the past four years, we've had about 10 plans labeled "recovery," "rescue," "restructuring"... But in reality, these plans more closely resembled, in the ...
Nicolas Sbeih, 2023-12-27 19:40 - Reading : 5 minute(s)
For the past four years, this somewhat recurrent idle tune has echoed in nearly every opinion, critique and analysis regarding the performance of banks at the outset of the economic crisis. According to these endless rantings, the banks allegedly transferred massive sums of money abroad for a select few privileged individuals, while denying the ...
2023-12-07 09:30 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
The Acting Governor of the Lebanese Central Bank (BDL), Wassim Mansouri, stated that, as far as he is concerned, Circular 151 is obsolete. This circular determines the exchange rate for one dollar at 15,000 Lebanese pounds and sets a monthly withdrawal limit of $1,600, which is equivalent to 24 million Lebanese pounds. Circular 151 initially set ...
This Is Beirut, 2023-12-05 20:37 - Reading : less than a minute
Lawyers for 11 Lebanese banks filed a memorandum on Tuesday, calling on the Ministry of Finance to compel the Lebanese State to immediately pay the Central Bank (BDL) the sums it owes. The banks are taking this action because they are BDL creditors and are wronged by its inability to demand repayment of the Lebanese State's debts. The State must ...
Antoine Menassa, 2023-12-04 17:06 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
We are currently witnessing unhealthy and, in any case, illegal attempts to cover the debts of Lebanon’s Central Bank (BDL). Unhealthy, because by adopting a balancing act, an attempt is being made to unjustly designate a scapegoat to bear the burden of the State's obligations to BDL, which amount to $72 billion... How? By highlighting the ...