Banque du Liban: Returning money to depositors is not impossible

Sept. 4, 2023 (Anatolia) - Acting Central Bank Governor Wassim Mansour said on Monday that returning money to depositors is not impossible, at a time when bank branch break-ins continue by depositors demanding their money.

Mansour's remarks came in an interview with the Saudi channel "Al-Arabiya", during which he stressed that depositors should not wait any longer to get their money deposited in banks.

For more than a year, depositors have been carrying out raids on bank branches in Lebanon, demanding their deposits, amid restrictions from the central bank on withdrawals in dollars or local currency.

Central Bank Governor Mansour is in the Saudi capital Riyadh to participate in the annual conference of the Union of Arab Banks, which began Monday and concludes tomorrow.

The Lebanese official said Saudi Arabia "is always working positively to resolve the Lebanese financial crisis. But the basis is that the solution comes from within Lebanon. We have to help ourselves first by taking a package of reforms."

He added: "The Lebanese economy declined from about $ 55 billion before 2020, to about $ 20 billion by the end of 2022. The crisis can only be solved with much integration between technical, legal and political bodies."

Since 2019, Lebanon has been suffering from an unprecedented severe economic crisis, with the collapse of the value of its lira against other currencies, a shortage of basic items including medicines and fuel, and a significant decline in purchasing power.

Observers say Lebanon has been one of the arenas of competition between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and they hope that the resumption of relations between the two countries will lead to addressing Lebanese crises.