Withdrawals under circulars No. 158 and No. 166 exceed $2.5 billion per year, according to central bank

BEIRUT — Banque du Liban (BDL, central bank) said that circulars No. 158 and No. 166, implemented since 2021 to gradually return part of foreign-currency deposits frozen in banks, now enable depositors to receive more than $2.5 billion per year.

In a statement, BDL said these payments are financed through the mandatory reserves of commercial banks held at the central bank, which it considers to belong "in law and in fact" to depositors themselves.

As of the end of March 2026, 578,770 depositors had benefited from circulars No. 158 and No. 166. Among them, 266,166 have recovered the full amounts placed in their special annex account, representing 46% of all beneficiaries under both measures.

Monthly payments under the two circulars slightly declined in March 2026, to $240.4 million, compared to $242.2 million in February (-0.73%). The contribution of commercial banks to the March installment amounted to $28.36 million (11.8% of the total), with BDL covering the remainder.

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Since the launch of these measures, cumulative payments to depositors reached $6.109 billion at the end of March 2026. Of this total, BDL covered $4.183 billion, or 68.46%.

BDL also noted that all depositors benefiting from circular No. 158 since it came into effect on July 1, 2021, whose deposits were equal to or less than $40,200, had fully recovered their savings by the end of April 2026.

The institution said it continues to work to ensure payment of the amounts due under these circulars, which it presents as support of depositors and for the wider economy in a context it describes as particularly difficult.

Circulars No. 158 and No. 166 are among the measures gradually introduced by BDL under former governor Riad Salameh, to partially compensate for the restrictions imposed by banks on "dollar" accounts opened before the end of 2019. The first circular was issued on June 8, 2021, and the second on Feb. 3, 2024, replacing a previous similar measure.