Bank deposits restitution: Wassim Manssouri calls for a 'collective solution'

BEIRUT — On Thursday, Interim Governor of Banque du Liban Wassim Manssouri visited the Lebanese Economic, Social and Environmental Council, an advisory body that links the private and public sectors. Manssouri called for a "collective solution" to return frozen bank assets to depositors.

During his first visit to the council, Manssouri did not say more than what he has in his previous public appearances.

However, he expressed hope for a "collective solution" to initiate the returning of bank assets that are frozen due to restrictions, according to a statement.

"I hope we will launch a collective workshop involving Parliament, the government, BDL, and the Economic, Social, and Environmental Council ... to find answers as soon as possible. We all bear responsibility for this delay," he added. 

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He reiterated that BDL initiated projects to modernize its governance and internal financial mechanisms. He stated that public sector salaries have been secured for September.

Mansour emphasized that the dollars, which public sector employees could withdraw at the Sayrafa rate (LL 85,500 , which is lower than the market rate), did not come from the institution's foreign currency reserves.

This means they are sourced from dollars that ministries acquired or that the BDL purchased in the market.

According to Manssouri, the government collected "LL 20 trillion in September, the same amount as in August," which is equivalent to more than $220 million at the market rate (around LL 89,500 per dollar).

This enables the BDL to maintain an "acceptable" but "fragile" balance in terms of the monetary situation and exchange rate. He said that he will not finance the government by subscribing to foreign currency bonds, as BDL did before, or by printing Lebanese liras.

Manssouri made no new announcements about the deployment of Bloomberg's new exchange platform, which is set to replace Sayrafa by the end of the year.

Former Governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon Riad Salameh's management is regularly criticized for contributing to the country's collapse over the past four years.

Salameh has been the subject of several investigations, particularly in Europe, regarding the way he accumulated his wealth. He denied this responsibility, blaming Lebanese leaders for accumulating deficits to the point of no return and leading to the default on Eurobonds in March.