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Beirut (AFP)
Acting Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni announced on Wednesday the start of the first phase of criminal scrutiny of the Banque du Liban’s accounts, in a move requested by various parties, including the International Monetary Fund and French President Emmanuel Macron.
And my weight at the beginning of September, coinciding with Macron’s second visit in less than a month to Beirut, I signed contracts related to the forensic audit with “Alvarez and Marsal”, and the financial and accounting audit with “KPMG” and ” Oliver Wyman “.
On Wednesday, Wazni announced in a statement: “Today, Álvarez and Misal have launched the first phase of the forensic audit,” noting that “the first step includes a preliminary list of information required from the Banque du Liban,” which the company will deliver to the minister “within the next twenty-four hours.”
He noted that the three companies will organize teams to start work “in the near future” and “will carry out the criminal, financial and accounting audit.”
Since last year, Lebanon has witnessed an accelerating economic collapse, which coincided with an unprecedented drop in the value of the Lebanese pound against the dollar. In March, the country defaulted on the payment of its external debts before starting negotiations with the International Monetary Fund, relying on the austerity plan drawn up by the current interim government.
The government blamed the governor of the Banque du Liban, Riad Salameh, for the deterioration of the exchange rate, in parallel to the harsh criticism of various political parties of the monetary policies it adopted in recent years, as they accumulated debts. However, Salameh has repeatedly defended himself by stating that the Central Bank “financed the state but did not disburse the money.”
The government held 17 negotiating sessions with the IMF, which suspended the sessions in August, pending the unification of the Lebanese negotiators of their estimates on the size of the losses and how the reforms should be implemented.
The IMF emphasizes the need for transparency and accountability through extensive scrutiny of key institutions, including the Banque du Liban.
During two visits to Beirut after the port explosion on August 4, Macron reiterated the need for the necessary reforms to allow Lebanon to gain external international support to help lift it out of the cycle of economic collapse.
A roadmap, the content of which was agreed with the political forces, stipulated that a forensic audit of the Bank of Lebanon accounts would be carried out.
Lebanese officials have reiterated that the forensic audit will begin with the Banque du Liban, and then be withdrawn to other institutions and ministries.
Hassan Diab’s government, which negotiated with the IMF, resigned days after the Beirut port explosion. The Lebanese president, Michel Aoun, after meeting with the most prominent political forces, appointed Mustafa Adib to form a new government.
Macron announced earlier this month that political forces had committed to completing the mission in two weeks, but no progress has yet been announced.
© 2020 AFP
