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On Friday, the Lebanese parliament issued a decision to subject the accounts of the Central Bank of Lebanon, ministries, all financial institutions and municipalities to criminal scrutiny, a week after a consulting firm terminated its contract with the Ministry of Finance. for criminal scrutiny of central bank accounts due to their lack of required data and documents.
This decision came after a session held by the Council to discuss the letter from President Michel Aoun, in which he asked the deputies to take the appropriate decision on conducting a forensic financial audit on the accounts of the Banque du Liban.
France and the International Monetary Fund have previously requested a financial audit as part of urgent reforms before providing any financial assistance, at a time when the country is facing a severe economic crisis.
Justification denied
The Central Bank claimed that some provisions, including the Bank Secrecy Law, prevent it from submitting the required data, although officials denied this and accused the bank of obstructing the audit process.
Parliament voted on Friday to exclude this justification and pave the way for a criminal audit, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said after a session of parliament, adding that this decision comes in response to the president’s message to facilitate the audit process.
For his part, the President of the Republic said in a statement on Twitter that “Parliament’s response to our desire to achieve criminal financial audits in state institutions and departments is an achievement for Lebanese who want to know who has wasted their money and revoked its livelihood as it is a bright prospect for the international community in solidarity with us in our battle against corruption. ” And waste “.
save time
In a related context, economist and activist Jad Shaaban described Parliament’s latest decision as a “time-saving tactic”, adding: “It is not necessary to lift bank secrecy or anything else to conduct an audit,” adding that ” the problem once again is how to allow thieves to control thieves. ” In reference to the authorities.
The forensic audit of the BDL accounts is one of the main points of the government’s economic rescue plan, which was approved at the end of last April.
Several officials, including the finance minister, hinted that the government is expected to soon replace “Álvarez y Marsal” with another consulting firm.
Lebanon, which announced that it will stop paying its debts this year, is suffering the worst economic crisis in decades and the consequences of the port explosion on August 4, which destroyed entire neighborhoods in the capital Beirut, both considered the result of corruption and inefficiency.
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