Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Information Minister Paul Morcos during the press briefing following the Cabinet meeting at the Grand Serail on Dec. 26, 2025. (Credit: Grand Serail's X account)
Following the Cabinet's adoption of a long-awaited initial draft law on "restoring financial order and returning deposits," Prime Minister Nawaf Salam continues to press the Lebanese Parliament to follow through.
"The adoption by the Cabinet of the draft law on the 'financial gap' is a gateway to the rescue [of the Lebanese financial system] and reforms. It has been carried out in full transparency to restore the rights of depositors who have been waiting for several years," the head of government said in an interview published Saturday by the Kuwaiti daily Al Anbaa.
"The ball is now in Parliament's court, and we respect all opinions," he added, echoing his statements Friday following the Cabinet session during which the text was adopted after tough discussions.
"It is important that Parliament votes on this bill as soon as possible, and I would be very happy if they can improve it," he said at the time, noting that the text first needs to be signed by President Joseph Aoun before being sent to the speaker of Parliament.
Even before its adoption, the bill had been criticized by the Association of Banks in Lebanon, the Parliament's Economy Committee, part of the private sector, and some depositors' associations, who protested outside the Grand Serail and the Baabda Presidential Palace this week during Cabinet meetings.
Other groups, such as the Union of Depositors, considered adopting the text, even if it could be improved, as a positive step.
The law on the financial gap is one of the most important pieces of reform legislation that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is demanding Lebanon adopt before it will even allow the country to subscribe to a financial assistance program.
That program is contingent on implementing further changes to the country's governance and financial system, which have been in a state of collapse since 2019.
The adopted bill is intended to facilitate the repayment of part of the $80 billion in deposits frozen in Lebanese banks.
While the prime minister succeeded in getting this key reform passed before the year's end — unlike his predecessors Hassan Diab and Najib Mikati, who both gave in to political pressure — the adopted text still fails to meet several criteria the IMF considers essential.
There is also the risk that the bill could be diluted by parliamentary committees, as happened with the banking secrecy law in April, before Lebanon's partners put considerable pressure on the Lebanese delegation traveling to Washington for the IMF and World Bank spring meetings.
