MP Georges Adwan denounces proposed financial rescue plan, saying it places too heavy a burden on depositors

BEIRUT – The head of the Administration and Justice parliamentary committee, MP Georges Adwan (LF/Chouf), criticized Tuesday what he described as “the so-called government financial and economic plan.”

Here’s what we know:

    • Adwan’s comments were captured in a press conference that followed a meeting of the Administration and Justice Committee.

    • The plan he referenced was recently revealed by Reuters, and shows that out of $104 billion of hard currency deposits, only $25 billion will be returned in US dollars, with most of what’s left being converted to lira at several exchange rates, resulting in depositors shouldering a total loss of $38 billion.

    • The plan also allocates $13 billion in losses to banks’ shareholders; another $10 billion to the government and finally $8 billion to the central bank.

    • “The government talks of a plan, without us knowing what it is, like it is some kind of secret deal,” Adwan said. “We don’t approve of this plan because it shifts the burden of responsibility of the previous 20 to 30 years of corruption to depositors and the people who lost the most.”

    • He continued: “What if the plan was accepted by the International Monetary Fund, and the government did not approve it, what would have we done? And what if the government approves it but then the Parliament doesn’t?”

    • “We tell those who are negotiating with the IMF this plan is not constitutional and not legal. because it holds no one accountable for the situation we are in,” Adwan concluded.

    • IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva recently said the fund would only support a "comprehensive program" for Lebanon that would tackle all the country's ills, including corruption. This was seen by many as a rebuke of the Lebanese government’s plan.

    • Yesterday, the Association of Banks in Lebanon also rejected the draft government financial plan.