Unacceptable tampering: ABL report warns against touching depositors' funds

In the opening of the monthly report of the Association of Banks in Lebanon (ABL), titled "The Governor's Promise, the Reserve Will Not be Touched," the Secretary-General of the Association, Fadi Khalaf, considered that tampering with depositors' funds has been, and continues to be, unacceptable, regardless of the reasons and explanations. 

The Association of Banks has previously directed two letters in this regard to the former governor, Riad Salameh, and the solution for him was to return the funds in Lebanese lira at a rate of LBP 1500 if the banks insisted on claiming their deposits from him.

Khalaf added that it is now time for the state to realize the impossibility of continuing the policy of buying time, going "against the wind," and making it easy to deplete what remains of depositors' funds. 

He pointed out that tampering with the banks' reserves at the Central Bank of Lebanon was not and will not be the solution; instead, it will exacerbate the crisis instead of solving it.