BEIRUT — During a meeting with a delegation from the Association of Banks (ABL), headed by Salim Sfeir, Finance Minister Yassin Jaber emphasized on Tuesday that his Ministry, the Cabinet and parliament are "very keen on the need for the banking sector to return to full functionality," according to the state-run National News Agency (NNA).

During the meeting, which was held in Jaber's office in the Finance Ministry, Jaber said that “the approval of the law on amendments to banking secrecy and the Finance and Budget Committee's re-examination of the banking sector regulation law are steps towards this goal, whose results will reflect positively on the return of the banking sector."

Lebanon has been shaken by a severe economic and financial crisis since 2019, which has seen its currency lose more than 90 percent of its value and depositors no longer have access to their deposits. On Thursday, Lebanese MPs approved a long-awaited bill lifting banking secrecy, a key reform on which financial assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is dependent.

Jaber noted that the Central Bank Governor and his team have "started preparations to draft the necessary study for the financial gap law to address the issue of deposits."

According to NNA, Jaber and ABL reviewed “the stages that preceded and followed the adoption of the law amending banking secrecy and the referral of the law regulating the banking sector in Lebanon." They also discussed the atmosphere of the meetings held by him and the Lebanese delegation at the World Bank and IMF Spring Meetings in Washington, including "what was presented and the steps that Lebanon intends to take to push the banking sector to restore its role."

Jaber also met on Tuesday with the Qatari Ambassador to Lebanon, Sheikh Saud bin Abdul Rahman Al-Thani, who reiterated his country's support for Lebanon. According to NNA, the minister thanked "the Qatari ambassador for the position of Qatar's  Finance Minister in the roundtable meetings held in Washington to support funding for reconstruction in Lebanon."

Finally, Jaber received a delegation from the Washington-based think tank, the Middle East Institute, headed by American diplomat Stuart Jones. The delegation was briefed by Jaber on the Finance Ministry's reform plan as part of the government's structural agenda aimed at advancing all sectors, restoring the regularity of constitutional work and starting a new phase focused on restoring the confidence of the international community in Lebanon.

Citing Jaber's Media Office, NNA reported that “the visit of the delegation of the mentioned institute has remarkable connotations that add a sense of optimism, especially after a long absence of research centers and policy institutes of this caliber from Lebanon.”