Lebanese Deputy Prime Minister H.E. Al-Shami declared “state bankruptcy and the Central Bank of Lebanon”, and said that the losses would be distributed to the state, the Bank of Lebanon, banks and depositors.

“The losses will be distributed to the state, the Bank of Lebanon, banks and depositors, and there is no specific percentage, unfortunately the state is bankrupt as well as the Bank of Lebanon, and we want to come up with a result, and the loss has occurred because of policies for decades, and if we do not do something, the loss will be much greater,” he said.

“There is a truth that cannot be ignored, we cannot live in denial, we cannot open withdrawals (banking) to all people, and I wish we were in a normal state,” al-Shami said.

“We are in the midst of negotiations with the IMF and in daily contact with the IMF, and for the first time this large mission has come and we have made significant progress in the IMF negotiations,” he said.

“We hope to reach an agreement on this or another tour,” al-Shami said. The negotiations are currently focused on several topics: reform and restructuring of the banking sector, balanced fiscal policy to service public debt, public sector and electricity reform, exchange rate consolidation, monetary policy and inflation management.”

He pointed out that KPMG is auditing the Bank of Lebanon, and that the bank is conducting an inventory of the amounts of gold in its possession, and has already begun the inventory process.