LEBANON (Enmaeya News) - October 28, 2025

The Institute of International Finance (IIF) has proposed a new plan to help Lebanon recover about $80 billion in frozen bank deposits by 2030.

According to L'Orient Today, the seven-step plan includes major financial changes, such as selling part of the country’s gold reserves and creating a new national currency.

IIF’s Middle East chief economist, Garbis Iradian, said Lebanon’s gold, worth around $37 billion has been sitting unused while depositors remain unable to access their money.

The plan suggests that in 2026, the central bank should sell about 100 tons of gold, valued at roughly $14 billion. The money would then go to commercial banks to start paying back depositors in monthly installments over a year.

Another $16 billion in gold would be invested abroad to earn returns that could help fund future repayments.

Another major part of the plan is to launch a “new Lebanese lira”, where one new lira equals 100,000 old ones. Around $6 billion a year would be circulated in this new currency, eventually reaching $30 billion over five years to help pay back deposits.

Other steps include auditing the central and commercial banks, recovering an estimated $9 billion in money transferred abroad illegally, privatizing some state companies to raise about $8 billion, and offering “diaspora Eurobonds” to attract investment from Lebanese living overseas.

The IIF also recommends improving tax collection to create budget surpluses without raising tax rates.

Although this is not an official government plan or a replacement for a deal with the International Monetary Fund, the proposal aims to restore trust in Lebanon’s banks and address the country’s long-running financial crisis.