BDL reportedly inclined to completely stop funding state as of Monday

The Central bank is inclined to stop funding the state completely as of Monday, MTV said, after the government and parliament failed to pass a law that would allow the government to borrow foreign currency from the central bank.

First central bank vice-governor Wassim Mansouri, who took over as BDL's acting governor on Tuesday, had urged parliament and the government to cooperate in order to legalize spending during a transitional period before the central bank stops funding the state completely.

He said that the central bank would only lend the government on condition that a law allowing it be passed and that government pay back the loans through a realistic plan.

In a cabinet session Tuesday, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said he had distributed Monday the indebtedness draft law to the ministers. He said that draft laws must be distributed at least one week before being discussed in cabinet.

On wednesday, Mikati met with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi in Diman. After the meeting he said that Cabinet cannot pass the law, but it can ask parliament to approve a proposed draft law as soon as possible.

On Thursday Cabinet convened again to discuss the 2023 state budget. "We still don't have a draft law on the state's indebtedness from the central bank," Finance Minister Youssef al-Khalil said before the session.