The former Governor of the Banque du Liban (BDL, central bank), Riad Salame, posing in what appears to be a vault filled with gold bars, after the announcement of a successful audit of the central bank's gold reserves on Nov. 24, 2022. (Archive photo provided by the BDL)
Slowly slowly, using Lebanon's gold reserves to reimburse depositors is no longer being seen as a taboo, with the draft law on restoring financial order and returning deposits — commonly called the 'financial gap law' — approved by the Cabinet on Dec. 26, paving the way for this option.One of the key provisions of this bill — which could still be amended when examined by MPs — calls for a guaranteed reimbursement (not including interest) of deposits up to $100,000. In practice, this would allow 85 percent of depositors to be fully reimbursed within four years.Above this threshold, the bill calls for converting frozen bank deposits into financial instruments repayable over varying maturities depending on the size: ten, fifteen and twenty years for accounts holding $100,000 to $1 million; $1 million to $5 million; and over $5...
Slowly slowly, using Lebanon's gold reserves to reimburse depositors is no longer being seen as a taboo, with the draft law on restoring financial order and returning deposits — commonly called the 'financial gap law' — approved by the Cabinet on Dec. 26, paving the way for this option.One of the key provisions of this bill — which could still be amended when examined by MPs — calls for a guaranteed reimbursement (not including interest) of deposits up to $100,000. In practice, this would allow 85 percent of depositors to be fully reimbursed within four years.Above this threshold, the bill calls for converting frozen bank deposits into financial instruments repayable over varying maturities depending on the size: ten, fifteen and twenty years for accounts holding $100,000 to $1 million; $1 million to $5 million; and...
