Recent developments in Lebanon's banking sector

A director at Banque du Liban (BDL) contacted other banks on Sunday and requested that they adhere to the ceiling of one hundred million Lebanese pounds per month to be converted into US dollars at Sayrafa exchange rate (LBP 38,000). And that this would only be permitted for individuals. 

According to some sources, this decision was coordinated with the caretaker finance minister, especially after it became evident that dollars were brought into Lebanon from abroad to be converted into lira at the market rate, then used to purchase dollars at Sayrafa rate to profit from clear speculation.

However, the banks tried to clarify what would happen to the operations they conducted on Wednesday and Thursday and whether they were covered by this decision, especially since they took place without a ceiling and their payment must take place this week.

The banks have not yet gotten a definitive answer from BDL, but banking sources have indicated that these operations will proceed under the previous formula.

It was also noteworthy that several banks in Bekaa purposefully returned amounts to customers who made banking transactions on Wednesday and Thursday that surpassed LBP 100 million. They only carried out operations up to the sum of 100 million and not higher.

Thus, the banking sources stressed that setting a cap of LBP 100 million per month and restricting it to individuals was equivalent to canceling the decision of BDL governor that was made on December 27.

Sources in BDL estimated the amount that BDL has depleted from its reserves to this point at about $600 million. But they did not confirm this number definitively before Wednesday, the date of its council’s meeting. These sources also claimed that many interventions caused BDL to set this cap.

However, the governor had taken precautions against speculating and making illegal profits by institutions through various measures, including transferring the dollars abroad according to documents related to import operations.

Banking sources then said that BDL could not continue its policy of decreasing the monetary block in liras and depleting its reserves of dollars. It stated that the amount taken out of the LBP block would be reinjected in other ways, the first of which is the payment of public sector salaries.