The Lebanese Ministry of Finance has launched a criminal audit process at the Central Bank of Lebanon, in response to donors’ demands, through which the circumstances within the banking system that led to an unprecedented economic crisis will be revealed.
In July, the caretaker government approved the appointment of “Alvarez & Marsal” to conduct the legal audit, which includes a thorough examination of the institutions’ financial records and detects any misuse of funds.
The start of the audit is one of the requirements of a French roadmap that sets out steps to ensure that Lebanon receives the international assistance it desperately needs, and helps end a crisis that poses the greatest threat to the country's stability since the civil war that raged between 1975 and 1990.
The ministry indicated that the first step would be to provide "Alvarez" a preliminary list of information required from the Banque du Liban to the caretaker finance minister, Ghazi Wazni.
Under the weight of debt, Lebanon's financial system faltered in 2019 and banks prevented their clients from obtaining their deposits while the local currency lost its value, and this year Lebanon defaulted on its sovereign debt for the first time. The crisis was exacerbated by the powerful explosion that occurred last month in the port of Beirut and destroyed a large part of the city.
Source (Arab Newspaper-London, Edited)
