Those who claim that defaulting on debt repayment in 2020 was the cause of our misery, hide or ignore the fact that many countries defaulted on their debt yet banks kept on operating.
1/4

Interest rate is like temperature, when it reaches 40 degrees it means the body is sick.
In 2016, banks had to pay 20% to attract Dollar deposits.
It undoubtedly meant that the banking sector was sick and the government was unable to attract foreign funds.
2/4

This is when an orderly debt restructuring should have taken place, moreover because in 2016, banks had over $20B in liquidity abroad and BDL still had over $35B in “reserves”. So the banking sector had enough cash to contain any negative market reaction.
3/4

Dr François Bassil raised a red flag in 2014..The severe crisis started in 2016..The beginning of the collapse in 2019.
What followed & what we are witnessing is a mix of denial & scapegoating as a defensive attitude.
What happened in 2019/20 was a consequence not a cause..!
4/4