The Central Bank of Lebanon issued on February 2, 2024 basic decision 13611 under basic circular 166 directed to banks Exceptional Measures for the Repayment of Foreign Currency Deposits Constituted before June 30,2023

Specification of Eligible Accounts:

• Banks identify all foreign currency deposits constituted before June 30, 2023, for which the account holders do not benefit from BDL Basic Circular No. 158, held by any resident or non-resident Natural person, excluding cash money

• Eligible amounts are calculated based on the Accounts’ balances as of 30/06/2023.

• Adults and minors may benefit from the circular No.166 according to specific conditions.

Exclusion Criteria:
Determine unqualified account holders as per specified exclusion criteria.

• Persons listed in Article (2) of BDL Basic Circular No. 154 who haven't returned the required proportion.

• Individuals engaged in check trading after 31/10/2019.

• Individuals converting deposits equivalent to or exceeding USD 300,000 from LBP into foreign currencies after 31/10/2019. (Excluding end-of-service compensations for both Private and Public Sectors).

• Persons who settled in LBP, after 31/10/2019, loan balances granted to them in foreign currencies equivalent to, or exceeding USD 300,000.

• Individuals converting loan balances equivalent to or exceeding USD 300,000 from foreign currencies into LBP after 31/10/2019.

•Persons benefiting from purchases equivalent to or exceeding USD 75,000 at Sayrafa rate.

Clients benefiting from BDL Basic Circular No. 158:
Clients benefiting from the Basic Circular No. 158 shall not benefit from the Basic Circular No. 166 for any accounts he has, on any individual account, or Joint accounts titled with an “and” or an "and/or" at any bank, throughout the yearly cycle adopted for the implementation of the Basic Circular No. 158, which extends from the first of July till the end of June of each year, during which he benefits from the provisions of the Basic Circular No. 158.
In case of a joint account, if one of the co-holders benefits from the Circular No. 166, the other co-holder may not benefit from the Circular No. 158 on that joint account; however, he/she may benefit from Circular No. 158 on his/her other accounts if he/she does not benefit from the provisions of 166 during the yearly cycle.

Account Holder Obligations:
Client should visit the branch to check eligibility and sign

• Banking secrecy waiver on "Special Sub Accounts" exclusively in favor of BDL and BCCL.

• Statement confirming that he did not execute any transaction listed in the Exclusion criteria

Withdrawal Procedure from "Special Sub Account":

• Monthly withdrawals of USD 150 in banknotes or via outgoing international transfer or deposit in a Fresh Account.

• Total annual withdrawals in USD from all banks shall not exceed USD 1,800, with a total of USD 4,350 allowed for a period of 29 months.