His Excellency the Deputy Prime Minister of the Lebanese Government, His Excellency Al-Shami, announced “the bankruptcy of the state and the Central Bank of Lebanon,” and said that the losses would be distributed to the state, the Banque du Liban, banks and depositors.
He said, “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, as 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 to 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. For the first time, this large mission has come and we have made great progress with the IMF negotiations.”
“We hope to reach an agreement in this round or the other. The 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,” Shami said.
He pointed out that KPMG 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 begun the inventory process.
