Central Bank of Lebanon Governor Riad Salameh has stated that he has decided to leave office when his current term ends in July.
He said in an interview with “Al-Qahera” news channel on Sunday that he was not asked to work for a new period and that he considered that the previous period was sufficient.
Lebanese Finance Minister: It is difficult to find an alternative to the Governor of the Banque du Liban
He added, “No one asked me to renew, but even if he asked, I believe in my will. God is generous.”
Salameh stated that the current economic crisis in Lebanon is due to the continuing state of political instability that plagues it, and that the parallel exchange rates are caused by the insufficiency of its foreign exchange reserves.
“The freedom left in the market is because I don’t have enough reserves to intervene,” he said.
Salameh added that Lebanon’s current reserves of foreign exchange amount to ten billion dollars, and that gold reserves are estimated at about 17 billion.
He said, “The reserves today are 15 billion, 10 billion as much as I used them abroad, and the rest are local dollars, and gold in Lebanon is worth about 17 billion.”
