Salameh:Lebanese pound is steady despite rumors

“ The Lebanese currency ( pound) will remain steady and away from danger,” Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh told MTV on Saturday.

“Lebanon passed through many crisis before and showed it has financial immunity,” he added.

MP Najib Mikati, backed Hezbollah and its March 8 allies , was appointed last Tuesday by president Michel Suleiman as PM-designate to form and head the next cabinet , giving Hezbollah and its allies increased leverage in the country and provoking widespread protests.

The Iranian- and Syria-backed Hezbollah brought down Hariri’s government on January 12 over the Special Tribunal for Lebanon’s ( STL) indictment which is widely expected to implicate Hezbollah members in the assassination of former PM Rafik Hariri in 2005 .

The March 14 alliance is demanding that Mikati, a political moderate with good ties to Syria, guarantee he will not disavow the tribunal.

There were many rumors that the Lebanese pound was on a shaky ground following the collapse of Hariri’s government, specially because Saudi Arabia and Kuwait , the 2 Sunni moderate Arab countries were the main backers of the Lebanese Central bank.