Passing the “student dollar” … What about implementation?

The approval of the “student dollar” law in Parliament yesterday culminated in a painful journey for the families of Lebanese students abroad, which lasted for about 9 months.The law becomes effective after the President of the Republic signs it, and the Governor of the Banque du Liban, Riad Salameh, issued a circular requesting the transfer of funds through banks and not through money changers.
Al-Akhbar learned that Salameh pledged to implement before Parliament Vice President Elie Ferzli, a delegate from Speaker Nabih Berri, to verify the solvency.
Parents who do not have bank accounts are waiting, according to association member Sami Hamia, to transfer funds to their children through banks and not through money changers, and the experience will not be repeated in terms of non-compliance with the circulars of the Banque du Liban. And in the event that the banks did not adhere to the law, Hamiyah confirmed that the association would resort to the judiciary, pointing out that “we were able to bring the project to safety after being removed from political tensions, quotas, and exploitation by merchants.”
The General Assembly of the Representative Council approved the law, as amended by the joint parliamentary committees, and stipulates “to oblige banks operating in Lebanon to spend $ 10,000, according to the official exchange rate of the dollar, for the academic year 2020-2021 for university students studying abroad before 2020 – 2021, and banks must make a financial transfer, the value of which does not exceed 10 thousand dollars, and one time for every Lebanese student registered in universities and higher technical institutes outside Lebanon from their accounts or their parents’ accounts in foreign or national currency according to the official exchange rate of the dollar (1515) after Verification of the presentation of a registration statement, an affidavit for payments before December 31, 2019, and the current housing lease contract, or a receipt for the last monthly payment.

The Governor of the Bank undertook to the Chairman of the Board to implement the law

The movement of students ’families started with the beginning of the dollar crisis and went through various stages in terms of demanding the adoption of university dollars and lifting restrictions on bank transfers. After that, they joined a follow-up committee, and then the “Association of Students Abroad Parents”, which obtained knowledge and news from the Ministry of Interior. The assembly prepared the redundant accelerated law proposal that was adopted by the Al-Wafaa Resistance Bloc and submitted it to the Parliament before it was approved by the other parliamentary blocs.
Prior to that, a group of circulars had been issued by the Banque du Liban that did not provide solutions to students due to the complications it imposed regarding the required documents. The last of these circulars allows the transfer of funds abroad from accounts in foreign currency, in addition to some conditions, including that the student must be registered in an educational institution abroad before the end of 2019, and that he present documents proving the value of the installments, the rental allowance, and others. The circular met with objection from the Parents’ Association, as the percentage of parents who own dollar accounts does not exceed 5%.

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