Lebanese banks and state clash over foreign currency obligations

There is currently an exchange of responses between the Association of Banks in Lebanon (ABL) and the Lebanese state.

These responses come in light of a lawsuit filed by ABL in front of the Shura Council in June of last year, requesting the Council to invalidate a statement included in a Cabinet decision from May of last year that reads the following: 

"We will cancel a significant portion of Banque Du Liban's foreign currency obligations towards the banks to reduce the deficit in the BDL's capital." 

The banks considered this statement as the state's seizure of a portion of their deposits and refusing to repay it, which meant violating the law and the constitution.