Lebanon’s Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh ended his 30-year tenure as scheduled on Monday amid charges of money laundering and embezzling public funds in Lebanon and abroad against him.
In an address to bank employees, Salameh said that “the central bank was able to achieve good performance ahead of the crisis, and during it, it was the backbone that allowed Lebanon to go forward.”
On Salameh’s stepping down, Lebanon’s financial losses exceeded $72bn, more than three times its gross domestic product in 2021, according to the World Bank.
At a press conference on Monday, the central bank’s first vice governor Wassim Mansouri confirmed himself as the acting head of the central bank starting Tuesday, as Lebanese authorities failed to appoint a successor to Salameh.
Mansouri said no government financing would be approved unless he is convinced.
He called on the government to pass a capital control law, a financial restructuring law, and a 2023 state budget within six months, saying this was Lebanon’s “last chance” to enact the changes.
Mansouri also demanded the lifting of the national currency peg.
The Lebanese pound was originally pegged to the dollar at a fixed rate of 1507.5 pounds per dollar before 2019.
Now, the Lebanese pound is traded at a much lower and varying rate on Sayrafa, the central bank’s exchange platform. On Monday, one US dollar is traded at around LBP 85,500, close to the parallel market level which now stands at slightly above 90,000.
Lebanon’s national currency has lost over 90% of its value since the economy began unraveling in 2019.
