The Governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon, Riad Salameh, confirmed in an interview with the "Financial Times" newspaper his bias towards the government in negotiations with the International Monetary Fund, denying his intention to obstruct the relationship between Lebanon and the International Monetary Fund, stressing that with regard to the future, we will work to align our position with that of the government even if there were losses.
Salameh pointed out that "he cannot promise that the Banque du Liban will deliver all the information requested by the criminal audit because it is bound by banking secrecy laws," stressing that "the Banque du Liban has nothing to hide, and we will provide all the information that we can provide according to the law."
Salameh revealed that the BDL's foreign currency reserves are so low that it can only provide dollars to support vital imports such as wheat, until the end of the year.
The International Monetary Fund had resolved the controversy regarding its support for Lebanon, through its emphasis on redoubling its efforts to help, on the condition that it move forward on the path of reforms, on top of which is the completion of the criminal investigation in the Central Bank to find out the losses and assess the balance sheet damage.
In this context, the spokesman for the International Monetary Fund, Gerry Rice, stressed the IMF's readiness to double its efforts to help Lebanon as soon as a new government is formed, pointing out that "we are ready to deal with the new government after its formation is complete, and we are also ready to double our efforts to help Lebanon and the people of Lebanon." Overcoming the social and economic crisis."
Source (Al-Arab London newspaper, Edited)
