Unveiling Lebanon's Central Bank Reserves: From $30 Billion to $8.4 Billion Amid Transparency Efforts"

What's Left in Lebanon's Central Bank Reserves?

Approximately $8.4 billion represents the remaining cash from depositors' funds.

This amount has dwindled from around $30 billion at the beginning of the crisis.

This figure was revealed through an inventory prepared by a team from the Lebanese Central Bank to be presented to the government.

According to sources, it will be officially announced and continuously updated as changes occur, alongside the publication of the central bank's foreign exchange movements – detailing its holdings, assets like gold, ownership of institutions like Middle East Airlines, real estate, and more.

This is in line with the desire of lawmakers to handle the figures with utmost transparency.

This move comes in the wake of leaked reports from KPMG and Oliver Wyman, auditing the central bank's financials up to March 2021.

The task had been assigned by the Hassan Diab government in 2020. The reports carried observations on the mechanisms employed by the central bank in terms of its figures and financial data, including:

Accumulation of losses due to its monetary policy, fixed exchange rate, and financial engineering.

Due to these losses, it needs recapitalization and infusion of funds.

The central bank deviated from international accounting standards due to the dual exchange rate system.

For example, it calculated various items at different rates – around 1,500 entries – such as loans, treasury bonds in lira and dollars, and assets like cash and gold at market exchange rates.

Will the central bank correct its data and address the losses?               
According to sources close to the acting governor of the central bank, Wassim Mansouri, rectifying and preparing the data is time and cost-intensive.

This process is tied to budget approval and determining the exchange rate against which all central bank figures will be calculated. As for addressing the accumulated losses, that requires more time for reforms like bank restructuring, capital controls, and others.