The Lebanese Central Bank issued on November 26, 2019 intermediate circular no. 535 addressed to banks and financial institutions regarding the facilities that might be provided by the Central Bank to the concerned entities for the import of medicine. The purpose of this circular is to ease the pressure on USD liquidity in the banking sector amid such harsh economic conditions and to regulate the import activity of some medical goods and ensure they are to be consumed locally. In details, the circular stipulates that banks can resort to the Central Bank to conduct foreign exchange transactions for their clients in foreign currency on the following basis:

- 85% of the value of bills dedicated to import medicine

- 50% of the value of bills dedicated to import medical supplies

- 75% of the value of bills dedicated to import medical products that are used to manufacture medicine, subject to a ceiling specified by the Central Bank on a case by case basis and based on the average imports bill of each supplier over the last three years

Banks willing to benefit from the provisions of the circular must secure the following:

- Provide the Central Bank with a copy of the documents related to all of the import transactions including a certified copy of the import bills by the Ministry of Health and a copy of the transfer order according to the SWIFT letter

- Ensure at their own responsibility that the medical bills will be used to cover the aforementioned items solely for local consumption based on the needs of the Lebanese markets

- Pay the Central Bank a commission of 0.5% on each transaction