Berri to convene Parliament next week in first session since February

BEIRUT — Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Thursday scheduled a parliamentary session for Tuesday, March 29 at 11 a.m. at the UNESCO Palace, the state-run National News Agency reported.

Here’s what we know:

    • The last parliamentary session occurred on Feb. 22.

    • Berri also scheduled a joint parliamentary committee session on Monday for the Finance and Budget Committee and the Administration and Justice Committee to discuss a capital control law.

    • The capital control law is a key demand of the International Monetary Fund in its negotiations with the Lebanese government to unlock a financial rescue package for the crisis-hit country.

    • The law remains unpassed more than two years after the banking crisis erupted in 2019. In the absence of such a law, commercial banks have imposed ad hoc controls on account holders’ access to their deposits.

    • Billions of dollars have reportedly been transferred abroad since the early days of the financial crisis in the absence of a capital control law.