The Lebanese banks and the Ministry of Finance do not share the same reading of changes in the value of Eurobonds. According to Al Akhbar of 2 November 2026, the dispute concerns the tax applied to the differences entered in the book accounts. The department considers that the difference between the value recorded in 2019 and the value withheld today can produce taxable profits. Institutions oppose this approach to loss of securities value when valued in dollars.
The debate therefore falls between two measures: the one in the financial statements in national currency and the one in dollar terms. The bank challenge is not only about the amount of tax. It relates to the definition of the result on which it would be calculated.
Book gain disputed against loss in dollars
In its November 2, 2026 edition, Al Akhbar reports the argument of the Ministry of Finance. The comparison of the amounts recorded in books between 2019 and the current period shows a difference that the administration intends to subject to tax. Thus, tax treatment is based on the result recorded in the accounts, rather than on the value expressed in dollars alone.
Banks report that these government bonds were issued in dollars. Their price is also determined in this currency. The daily summarizes their objection with one example: a title worth $100 is now worth less than 30. In this reading, imposing a profit in books on such a position amounts to taxing an accounting result while the asset lost a large part of its dollar value.
The two arguments therefore do not describe the same reference. The challenge is based on the value of the investment in its issuing currency. The tax approach concerns its recording in book accounts. It is this difference that explains why the same portfolio can be presented as a source of losses by banks and as a basis for profits taxable by the administration.
The provisions would open a way for settlement
Al Akhbar refers to a possible solution around provisions made to cover losses on securities. Their inclusion in the profit and loss account would reduce the basis on which tax is based. The newspaper presents this track as an apparent rapprochement between the parties, without announcing a final formal agreement.
This would allow institutions to recalculate their returns after deducting the provisions concerned. They would then pay the corresponding income taxes and penalties under this new treatment. The final amount would depend on the accepted entries and provisions.
In this case, the dispute would not be settled by a change in the real value of the bonds. It would be by their treatment in the tax result. Taking into account the projected losses would reduce the difference between the taxed book profit and the deterioration of the assets claimed by the banks.
A separate controversy over the repayment of depositors
This tax discussion is part of the banking sector’s difficulties, but it deals with a specific issue. It concerns the determination of a taxable profit and the imputation of provisions. It shall not fix the amount of the deposits to be returned or the timetable for their repayment.
The distinction then counts that the same establishments are involved in discussions on the allocation of losses. A reduction in the tax base does not in itself constitute a decision on the rights of applicants. In Al Akhbar’s case, the lead is still that of a revision of the returns taking into account the provisions, followed by the settlement of the tax payable.
Sources
Al Akhbar, November 2, 2026, page 4.
Cover credit:Karan Jain / Wikimedia Commons, Bank of Lebanon photograph, June 2011 archive, undercC BY-SA 2.0 license. Resize and editorial dressing Libnanews; adaptation under the same licence.
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