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Beirut – The head of the Lebanese interim government, Hassan Diab, directed his last arrows at the Banque du Liban, after the withdrawal of Álvarez and Marsal, which is in charge of scrutinizing the circumstances of the collapse of the banking and financial system that caused the destruction of the economy .
“They thwarted the criminal audit. Corruption won a new round. We will not give in to despair. The will of the Lebanese must win,” Diab said.
“We know that the system of corruption will not give up easily, and we know that this system will fight fiercely to protect itself. But I am sure that this system will eventually fall.”
The Presidency of the Lebanese Republic had previously said that the international company “Alvarez y Misal”, which a few months ago assumed the task of auditing the accounts and files of the Central Bank of Lebanon, withdrew from the task entrusted to it.
The company justified the suspension of its work, not having obtained the required information and documents, and its uncertainty about reaching said information, despite its access in early November to extend its work for three months to receive the required documents. .
An official source said contacts are being made to arrange a meeting with Álvarez and Misal in an effort to persuade her to continue with the contract.
Lebanese media cited their sources as saying that Lebanon will pay a fine of around $ 150,000 in exchange for the termination of the Alvarez y Marsal company.
The departure of the financial audit firm was greeted with French dissatisfaction with the performance of the Lebanese authorities, given that this dossier is at the forefront of the economic and financial reform priorities required in the French document.
The resigned Lebanese government had approved the contract with an international criminal audit firm in the accounts of the Central Bank, despite the presence of two international companies that regularly carry out the process of auditing the accounts, after a breakout broke out several months ago. Important dispute between the government and the Central Bank of Lebanon over deficit figures and loss calculation. Financial, since the figures contradicted and varied greatly between the financial and economic recovery plan established by the government and the figures provided by the Central Bank.
The forensic audit of the Bank of Lebanon accounts is the most prominent element of the economic recovery plan that the government approved months ago to negotiate with the International Monetary Fund, as it was included in the terms of the roadmap prepared by France for help Lebanon emerge from the cycle of economic collapse.
The decision to end the audit contract is seen as a blow to Lebanon, as it seeks to emerge from a deep financial crisis that caused its currency to collapse, paralyzed banks, and led to a default on sovereign debt.
The scrutiny is a fundamental requirement of foreign donors and the International Monetary Fund, whose talks with the interim government have been suspended due to failure to implement the requested reforms and an internal dispute over the size of the losses.
On November 3, Diab demanded that the central bank hand over all the documents to the auditing company, considering any attempt to hinder the audit, classified as a company responsible for causing the suffering of the Lebanese people financially, economically and in life.
The central bank, which has faced intense scrutiny since the start of the financial crisis in October 2019, had previously said that it had submitted its own accounts for audit and that the government should provide all state accounts to prevent the the central bank violates legally binding bank secrecy laws.
A parliamentary bloc this month introduced a bill to temporarily lift the bank secrecy law just for scrutiny. No date has been set for a hearing on the proposed law.
The relationship between the head of the interim government, Hassan Diab, and the governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon, Riad Salameh, prevails in severe tension, as “Diab” previously attacked Salameh, blaming the central bank – on more than one occasion and publicly – of responsibility for the monetary and financial deterioration in the country, and accused him of financing and supporting. The financial policies of successive governments, which were based on the waste of state funds and depositors in the banking sector. As he says.
Diab is fighting the Banque du Liban on behalf of Hezbollah, which in recent months has tried to blame the bank and its governor, Riad Salameh, for the deteriorating financial situation.
Hezbollah had tried to remove Salameh from the governance of the bank, considering that he represents the policy of the United States in the management of cash flow, and is directly responsible for applying economic sanctions that affected the party and the entities and people related to him, but international pressure prevented it.
Prime Minister Designate Saad Hariri, who was appointed last month, seeks to form a government under the sectarian political system that governs the country to implement reforms that address Lebanon’s worst crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war, which witnessed of widespread poverty.
United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jan Kubis said on Twitter that a meeting of the International Support Group for Lebanon in Beirut on Saturday discussed the country’s complex crisis “with great concern.”
He stressed that the group, which includes the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, denounced “the lack of progress in the formation of a government and the absence of more decisive measures by state and financial institutions.”
