This is Beirut - Lebanon

The IMF Sets an Example Through Lebanese Depositors: Unpacking One the Most Dangerous Laws in the Country’s History

This is Beirut, 21/12 15:40 - Reading : 6 minute(s)

Lebanon Banque du Liban International Monetary Fund economy banking system banks

What the government presented as the ‘Financial Gap Law’ is not merely a piece of financial legislation; it is a text that lays the foundations for the post-adoption economic order. It does not conceal its objective but states it calmly: ending a crisis that has lasted for years instead of resolving it, writing off deposits instead of ...

Gap Law: The Programmed Destruction of the Banking Sector

This is Beirut, 21/12 15:05 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Lebanon Economy Banks BDL Gap Law

Presented as a restructuring measure, the Gap Law organizes a methodical liquidation of the Lebanese banking sector. Behind complex technical mechanisms—loss hierarchy, balance-sheet cleanup, recapitalization—lies a clear political choice: to sacrifice banks to settle a public crisis that the state refuses to assume. This text does not reform ...

Gap Law: A Legalized Expropriation of Deposits

This is Beirut, 21/12 12:05 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Banks BDL Lebanon Economy Gap Law

Wrapped in the technical language of financial restructuring, the Gap Law is presented as a necessary step to correct the imbalance of Lebanon’s banking system. Behind this rhetoric lies a far more serious reality: the legalization of a massive expropriation of bank deposits, in blatant disregard of property rights, legal certainty, and the very ...

Christmas in South Lebanon: Villages Orphaned of Their Youth

Katia Kahil, 21/12 11:30 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Lebanon South Lebanon USA Displacement

In the villages of South Lebanon, Christmas flickers like a fragile flame. Despite the ever-present fear and palpable tension, church bells toll and evening gatherings are held. In Alma al-Shaab, Yaroun, Deir Mimas, Khiam, and Marjayoun, garlands and nativity scenes timidly pierce the deserted streets. Once alive with laughter and reunion, these ...

The Law of Financial “Massacre”: When Nawaf Salam and “Kulluna Irada” Strip Depositors of Their Savings

Eleonore Stephan for Huna Lubnan, 21/12 09:05 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Lebanon IMF Banks BDL Economy

At one of the darkest moments in Lebanon’s national life, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam is promoting a so-called “financial gap law” as a technical solution, while in reality it legalizes suffering and formalizes the confiscation of Lebanese citizens’ savings. The so-called “Kulluna Irada” law does not merely steal money; it also ...

Gap Law: How the Lebanese State Erases Its Responsibility

This is Beirut, 20/12 18:05 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Banks Lebanon Economy Gap Law IMF

Every financial crisis raises a central question: who should bear the losses? In a liberal economy grounded in responsibility, the answer is clear: those who decided, spent, borrowed, and ultimately failed. The Gap Law, however, offers a radically opposite answer. It methodically organizes the erasure of the Lebanese state’s responsibility and ...

Gap Law: Nawaf Salam and the IMF, Architects of a Legalized Spoliation

This is Beirut, 20/12 16:05 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Lebanon Gap Law Economy Banks

By claiming on Monday a commitment to “deliver justice to depositors,” Prime Minister Nawaf Salam did more than distort reality: with the active backing of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), he sealed one of the greatest financial and moral abdications in Lebanon’s history. The Gap Law, presented as a lifesaving legal framework, is in ...

Financial Gap Law: Farewell to a Lifetime’s Savings… Where Is Karim Souhaid?

This is Beirut, 20/12 15:55 - Reading : 6 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Lebanon Banks Banque du Liban Gap Law

The draft Financial Gap Law, also known as the Financial Regularization Law, is set to be discussed at the Cabinet table on Monday. Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has praised the project, presenting it as the first comprehensive legal framework to recover deposits and address the financial gap in a systematic and fair manner, within available means, ...

The Syndicate of Traders and Importers of Alcoholic Beverages Denounces the Gap Law

This is Beirut, 20/12 14:25 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Banque du Liban economy Lebanon Banks Gap Law Traders

The Syndicate of Traders and Importers of Alcoholic Beverages issued a statement on Saturday denouncing the Gap Law, which they said shifts the state’s responsibilities onto traders and businesses. “While respecting the draft presented by the Prime Minister concerning financial restructuring and the recovery of deposits, the currently ...

Deposits at Risk: Gap Law Shifts Burden on Depositors and Banks; State Off the Hook

Antoine Saade, 20/12 12:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Banks Lebanon Banque du Liban Gap Law economy

The fate of depositors’ funds lies at the heart of Lebanon’s financial crisis. It is not merely a matter of figures or balance sheets; it directly affects the lives of thousands of families and undermines the country’s overall economic stability. Amid the ongoing financial collapse and the sharp erosion of the national currency’s ...

Gap Law: When the State Organizes Its Disengagement at the Expense of Depositors

This is Beirut, 19/12 22:30 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Lebanon Nawaf Salam IMF Banks

Under the guise of structural reforms demanded by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the “Gap Law” currently being prepared in Lebanon is raising growing concern. Presented as a technical tool designed to bridge the country’s massive financial shortfall, this law is now seen by many experts as a mechanism allowing the state to evade its ...

Egyptian PM Pledges Full Support to Lebanon

This is Beirut, 19/12 14:35 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Lebanon Lebanese Army Nawaf Salam Joseph Aoun Egypt Madbouly

Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly met with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Friday, reaffirming Egypt’s steadfast support for Lebanon and stressing the need for stability, sovereignty, and full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701. In his remarks, Madbouly said the visit aimed to “convey Egypt’s full support to ...

Lebanon