Depositors in Lebanese banks are afraid of losing their large or small deposits.
Whenever anyone discusses the possibility of recovering deposits through specific measures, it is met with another talk about writing off these deposits or a percentage of them to bridge the financial gap.
Some argue that the International Monetary Fund is proposing this idea, while others accuse the banks of wanting to write off deposits because that relieves them of their obligations.
The Secretary-General of the Association of Banks, Fadi Khalaf, says that the write-off of deposits, in the event of his occurrence, will evade the state's obligations towards banks indirectly; this puts banks in confrontation with their depositors.
Khalaf pointed out that the state and its institutions will stand on the side if it happens, as is the case today, as a spectator to a conflict that it caused within the private sector.
The best analogy that can be depicted in this context is a reckless driver who caused a collision between the rest of the cars while he fled and watched the victims from afar, directing the ambulances and imposing himself as a judge in the distribution of responsibilities.
In parallel, there are always discussions about the Deposit Recovery Fund and that it is the most appropriate solution for banks.
The Secretary General of the Association of Banks stresses that banks see the Deposit Recovery Fund as one of the possible solutions, provided that the banks do not take upon themselves the most significant percentage of the financing of this fund while the state is allocated a small share only through contributions with more hypothetical than actual income.
Khalaf revealed that the state consumed 62.7 billion dollars out of a gap of 73 billion, or 86% of the gap. Therefore it must contribute in the same proportion to supplying the Deposit Recovery Fund in several ways, including but not limited to partnerships with the private sector and allocating a portion of expected oil and gas revenues.
Otherwise, it is nothing more than a process of evading the state from its responsibilities in wasting depositors' money and a clear violation of Article 113 of the Monetary and Credit Law, which obliges the state to cover the losses of the central bank BDL in full.