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On May 28, the proposal to impose controls on bank transfers and cash withdrawals was placed on the agenda of the Parliament’s General Assembly. The expedited proposal, signed by MPs Alan Aoun, Ibrahim Kanaan and Yassin Jaber, was considered urgent at the time, despite the passage of 7 months since October 17, and despite the smuggling of their money by politicians, large depositors and shareholders in banks. At the time it was said that the remaining funds in Lebanon should be protected. However, with the passage of time, this objective has become an unnecessary necessity, during the crisis the banks have diverted everything they can transfer, discreetly, and thus have become unable to comply with the obligations stipulated by the law. According to MP Yassin Jaber, the most appropriate time to pass such a law was in October, that is, before the banks were closed for two weeks after the outbreak of the uprising. It is enough to point out the magnitude of the sin committed by the Authority to indicate that during the first two days of the banks’ return to work, after the closure in October 2019, 700 million dollars were transferred abroad.
Consequently, each day that passed without the approval of “Capital Control” meant an additional drain on foreign exchange, until the matter reached the point of threatening to stop importing basic materials. The priority of authority was different. At that time, the Banque du Liban and the banks, that is, Capital Control, refused, under the pretext of guaranteeing a free economic system. This is something that President Nabih Berri also maintained until May. After the government stopped paying Eurobonds, and after the trend was to make “Hercats” on deposits, Berri was quoted as saying that he supports “Capital Control” that preserves depositors’ deposits, as opposed to ” Hercules “who take deductions from deposits or convert them into long-term bonds.
At the hearing this support did not last long. The president of the council withdrew the proposal, which was signed by a member of his bloc, due to the presence of notes from the governor of the Banque du Liban and the Monetary Fund, as he said at the time, and later transferred to the Finance Committee.
1- Payment of living expenses, medical treatment, hospitalization, education or rent.
2- Pay emergent loans before this law takes effect.
3- Pay taxes, fees or urgent financial obligations owed to foreign authorities.
4- Purchase of industrial, commercial, agricultural, food, technological or medical materials or products (medicines and supplies).
These provisions, although considered the minimum possible, but the illegal practice of the banks turned out to go far beyond the content of the law, since it restricted almost all types of transfers. Consequently, the enactment of this law will force the release of part of the depositors’ money ($ 50,000 per year), while confirming that they do not have the money, and rather allege that they owe large sums to correspondent banks.
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Source: News
