Has Lebanon gone bankrupt?

Deputy PM declares that Lebanon as a country and its central bank have gone bankrupt, but central Bank Governor says the bank is still performing its mandated role and that talk about bankruptcy is untrue.
Monday 04/04/2022
Banque du Liban
Bankrupt or not?

BEIRUT – Lebanon’s Deputy Prime Minister Saadeh al-Shami declared on Monday that the country and its central bank have gone bankrupt.

“The state has gone bankrupt as did the Banque du Liban, and the loss has occurred, and we will seek to reduce losses for the people,” said Shami in a statement to the local Al-Jadeed TV channel.

Shami said the losses were going to be dispersed across the country, the Banque du Liban, banks as well as depositors.

“There is no conflict of views about the distribution of losses,” he said.

But central Bank Governor Riad Salameh said that the bank is still performing its mandated role and that talk about bankruptcy is untrue.

The Lebanese pound has lost more than 90% of its value since 2019, when the financial system collapsed, plunging the majority of Lebanese into poverty.

Since late 2019, Lebanon has been struggling with a harsh economic crisis, involving a huge currency devaluation along with fuel and medical deficiencies.