Banks Demand Government to Repay $68 Billion: A Struggle Over Deposits and State Spending

Citizens deposited their money in banks, and the banks deposited these funds in the Central Bank of Lebanon. The government borrowed and spent these funds but couldn't repay them.

For the first time since this crisis, after a delay of four years, banks are clearly moving to demand the government to return these funds.

Eleven banks, representing about 70% of the deposits, submitted a memorandum to the Ministry of Finance, considering it to be the representative of the state.
 
In it, they asked the government to return $16.617 billion that was borrowed from the central bank and $51.302 billion to cover the losses of the central bank. 

These losses were mainly due to fixing the lira exchange rate and subsidies, which cost $12 billion and $18 billion for electricity.

The banks will wait until February 5th to see what the government will do, and if there is no payment, they will go to the Shura Council to file a lawsuit. 

Banking sources said that the funds demanded by the banks were deposits they placed in the Central Bank of Lebanon, which were not utilized, and the central bank used them to finance the state's needs, which were spent and not returned.