Bank Employees' Critique of Government's Banking Plan Amid Lebanon's Financial Crisis

A report by Lea Fayad, English adaptation by Nadine Sassine

The government's latest plan to address the banking situation has drawn criticism from bank employees. Following opposition from various ministers, the Association of Banks in Lebanon (ABL), Banque Du Liban (BDL), and other economic bodies and depositor groups, bank employees are now voicing their concerns.

They say that "this plan is itself a problem."

Firstly, it places the primary responsibility on depositors by potentially wiping out a significant portion of deposits. Secondly, the plan involves a committee assessing banks' conditions to decide which will continue and which will be liquidated, risking deposit losses, bank closures, and job losses for employees.

In response, bank employees have proposed alternative measures for inclusion in the recovery plan, which they will submit to relevant authorities. These measures include:

1- Clearly defining responsibilities, with the state bearing primary responsibility due to mismanagement and monetary policies. This would be followed by the BDL, which continued to provide funds to the government despite its financial difficulties, then banks that lent to the Central Bank and the government, and finally depositors who took on risks due to high interest rates.

2- The state should focus on recovering funds for the BDL and banks through reforms and by transforming underperforming sectors it controls, such as electricity, ports, telecommunications, and others, into productive sectors.

3- Retrieving funds sent out of Lebanon by public figures involved in public affairs since 2014.

4- Conducting audits on deposits suspected of being involved in money laundering.

Despite over four and a half years passing since the crisis began, Lebanon remains mired in controversy and impractical plans instead of progressing towards recovery.