Chami: Deputy Lebanon Central Bank Governors' Threat to Collectively Resign 'Dangerous'

A view of Lebanon's Central Bank building in Beirut, Lebanon July 6, 2023. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
A view of Lebanon's Central Bank building in Beirut, Lebanon July 6, 2023. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
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Chami: Deputy Lebanon Central Bank Governors' Threat to Collectively Resign 'Dangerous'

A view of Lebanon's Central Bank building in Beirut, Lebanon July 6, 2023. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
A view of Lebanon's Central Bank building in Beirut, Lebanon July 6, 2023. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

Deputy premier Saade Chami said on Friday deputy governors of Lebanon's central bank should run it if no governor is appointed by the end of the month, calling their threat to collectively resign "dangerous".
Longtime governor Riad Salameh's term expires at the end of July and one of the deputy governors told Reuters on Thursday they were considering quitting together if no successor is named, raising the possibility of the central bank being left leaderless amid a deep financial crisis.
Lebanon's breakdown in governance and political tensions have hamstrung efforts to find a successor to Salameh, whose 30-year tenure has been stained by charges at home and abroad of embezzlement of public funds in Lebanon. He denies the charges.
In a statement to Reuters, Chami said the deputy governors should "assume their responsibility in case this appointment is not possible...The threat of resignation implied by the statement is quite dangerous at this critical juncture."
The central bank leadership is appointed according to the sectarian power-sharing system that governs other top posts.
The governor must be a Maronite Catholic, while the four deputies - a Shiite Muslim, a Sunni Muslim, a Druze and an Armenian Catholic - must have the approval of the political chiefs representing their respective sects.
Some analysts wondered whether the resignation threat would push the political elite, which worked closely with Salameh for decades, to consider prolonging his tenure. Salameh has said he will leave when his term ends.



Report: US Ready to Reopen Oil Stockpile if Petrol Prices Surge Again

FILE PHOTO: A view of the Phillips 66 Company's Los Angeles Refinery (foreground), which processes domestic & imported crude oil into gasoline, aviation and diesel fuels, and storage tanks for refined petroleum products at the Kinder Morgan Carson Terminal (background), at sunset in Carson, California, US, March 11, 2022. REUTERS/Bing Guan/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A view of the Phillips 66 Company's Los Angeles Refinery (foreground), which processes domestic & imported crude oil into gasoline, aviation and diesel fuels, and storage tanks for refined petroleum products at the Kinder Morgan Carson Terminal (background), at sunset in Carson, California, US, March 11, 2022. REUTERS/Bing Guan/File Photo
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Report: US Ready to Reopen Oil Stockpile if Petrol Prices Surge Again

FILE PHOTO: A view of the Phillips 66 Company's Los Angeles Refinery (foreground), which processes domestic & imported crude oil into gasoline, aviation and diesel fuels, and storage tanks for refined petroleum products at the Kinder Morgan Carson Terminal (background), at sunset in Carson, California, US, March 11, 2022. REUTERS/Bing Guan/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A view of the Phillips 66 Company's Los Angeles Refinery (foreground), which processes domestic & imported crude oil into gasoline, aviation and diesel fuels, and storage tanks for refined petroleum products at the Kinder Morgan Carson Terminal (background), at sunset in Carson, California, US, March 11, 2022. REUTERS/Bing Guan/File Photo

The Biden administration is ready to release more oil from the US strategic stockpile to stop any jump in petrol prices this summer, the Financial Times reported on Monday.

Senior Biden adviser Amos Hochstein told the newspaper that oil prices are "still too high for many Americans” and he would like to see them “cut down a little bit further.”

Hochstein, speaking to the FT said that the US would "continue to purchase into next year, until we think that the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) has the volume that it needs again to serve its original purpose of energy security."

The Energy Department this year has been buying about 3 million barrels of oil per month for the SPR after selling 180 million barrels in 2022 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The move was an effort to curb gasoline prices that spiked to more than $5.00 a gallon, but it also reduced the reserve to its lowest level in 40 years.

Earlier this month, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told Reuters that the US could hasten the rate of replenishing the SPR as maintenance on the stockpile is completed by the end of the year.