The Governor of Lebanon’s Central Bank (Banque Du Liban), Riad Salameh denied claims that the country was on the verge of bankruptcy, stressing that the Lebanese currency was safe.
In remarks to LBCI on Wednesday, Salameh assured that the Lebanese currency is “safe and there is no crisis,” criticizing reports of “bankruptcy.”
Last week, Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Raii quoted Lebanese President Michel Aoun as warning against the “country’s bankruptcy” and called for controlling Lebanon’s finances and corruption.
“The Lebanese currency is doing fine. Rumors about bankruptcy are merely political exaggeration,” Salameh said.
Speaking on the sidelines of an annual meeting of the Union of Arab Securities held in Beirut, the BDL governor assured that Lebanon had ample assets in foreign currency to meet the debt obligations for the coming years, highlighting the presence of “a large group of investors who believe in investing in Lebanon.”
Meanwhile, MP and Former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said claims about Lebanon’s bankruptcy were “untrue”, calling for speeding up cooperation between the public and private sectors to develop national economy.
Speaking during a plenary session at the Parliament to discuss the 2018 state budget bill, Siniora said: “We must restore to the public service its value; what is sought is to free this service from the grip of parties and militias.”
He also called to work on bolstering cooperation with the private sector “so that it assumes its role in promoting the economy.”
