Report: BDL counts its gold for first time in at least 30 years

Lebanon’s central bank, also known as Banque du Liban (BDL), is “counting its gold reserves for the first time in at least three decades,” as the international community “pressures the cash-strapped country to evaluate its assets to qualify for a bail-out,” English-language Emirati newspaper The National reported on Thursday.

“About 20 per cent of the time-consuming exercise has been completed in the past two years,” two senior civil servants told The National.

BDL’s employees had to pause their work for months owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, the daily said.

“They have descended into the bank’s vaults several times a week to weigh 12-kilogram gold ingots that are believed to number 13,000 in total. One by one, the metal bars are placed on a scale,” The National added.

“It’s a very physical job,” said one of the sources. The bank also holds around 700,000 coins.

“The inventory is limited to checking that the expected amount of gold is present. Audit company KPMG will then step in to evaluate the metal’s worth,” the source said.

The government requested an inventory in March 2020 after it was made aware that another auditor, Deloitte, had been unable to conduct one, said the sources.

Analysts say the inventory plays a crucial role in better understanding the state’s losses.

“If the gold’s value is lower than estimated, then BDL’s losses would be higher than reported by this government,” said Mike Azar, a financial analyst.

Deputy Prime Minister Saadeh Shami has estimated the banking sector’s losses at more than $70 billion.

A leaked report by Deloitte shows that four years ago, it evaluated Banque du Liban’s gold reserves at close to $18 billion, of which 60 percent is held in Beirut, and the rest at the U.S. Federal Reserve.

The sources said they had no doubt that vast amounts of gold were inside BDL’s vaults.

“It’s not a trust issue. But inventories need to be done, just like any company should know what they have in stock,” said one.

Economist Kamal Hamdan said he does not believe that the central bank has counted its gold since the civil war.

It remains unclear whether the gold ingots meet today’s standards of purity.

A source with knowledge of the subject said the central bank's gold might not meet the London Bullion Market Association’s benchmark because it was bought over 50 years ago.

“Gold bought before the 1970s is not of London Good Delivery standard and therefore cannot be easily sold,” they said.