The new finance minister, Yassin Jaber, assured Saturday that he does not intend to "block" the government’s work, countering concerns from political officials who feared the allocation of this portfolio to a close associate of Amal and Hezbollah.

"There will be no obstruction regarding the finance minister’s signature. On the contrary, the goal is to facilitate work and implement reforms (…) I will not block the government. I hope all my colleagues will also help facilitate its work," Jaber said in an interview with local broadcaster Al-Jadeed.

Jaber was appointed finance minister following the insistence of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, to whom he has remained close throughout his political career, despite never formally joining the Amal Movement. "I have always been independent. I am not a member of any party," he said, while acknowledging that he is part of Berri’s parliamentary bloc. "I belong to this popular base. I am from the South and from Nabatieh," he added.

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The insistence of the duo on controlling the Finance Ministry stems from the fact that the portfolio holds the so-called "fourth signature." By law, decrees must be countersigned by the president, the prime minister and the relevant minister(s). However, because most government decrees have financial implications, the Finance Ministry’s signature is often required. This "fourth signature" grants Shiite officials a significant tool of oversight over executive power, which neither the Constitution nor customary rules otherwise grant them.

Jaber previously served as economy and trade minister from 1995 to 1998 in Rafik Hariri’s government. He later held the post of public works and transportation minister from 2004 to 2005 in Omar Karameh’s government.

‘Do not write off the deposits’

Addressing Lebanon’s banking sector and the dispute between depositors and banks, Jaber said, "Lebanon cannot write off the savings deposits [blocked in banks since the economic crisis began in 2019]." "The solution must start with the Banque du Liban [BDL]," he added, stressing the need for Lebanon to begin negotiations with the World Bank and appoint a new central bank governor.

Jaber’s remarks were welcomed Sunday by Mount Lebanon’s public prosecutor, Ghada Aoun, who has made the case against former BDL governor Riad Salameh a centerpiece of her work. "I wrote to the central bank over a year ago to find out what happened to the $8 billion in the Optimum case, a sum equivalent to all the commissions the central bank received in its operations with the Optimum company (…) The solution is to open all of BDL’s books and expose everything," she wrote on X.

Salameh was arrested last September in connection with the "consultation account" case at BDL, known as the Optimum Invest affair, linked to a Lebanon-based brokerage firm. He is suspected of transferring $44 million to private accounts, though he denies all allegations.