Wassim Mansouri, the interim Governor of the Bank of Lebanon, announced that the bank intends to provide a new exchange platform via “Bloomberg,” and explained that “securing the state’s needs is done through the budget, and if the Central Bank needs to secure the dollar for the state from the market on the basis of Articles 75 and 83, then it will not resort to money changers to secure the dollar, and there is a specific mechanism in the law that is respected, and the bank’s purchase of dollars from the market has high compliance conditions, and therefore the possibilities remain limited.”
He pointed out that “for this reason, we are in the process of establishing an international trading platform via “Bloomberg,” next Wednesday, at the request of the bank. Lebanon, and this will be included in the Council of Ministers session,” stressing that this platform “will facilitate trading and convert the liras into dollars, which means that the state will be able to pay all its obligations in the lira and whoever wants to collect them will resort to this platform.”
Returning money to depositors is not impossible
Mansouri declared that “the delay in approving reform laws exposes Lebanon to the risks of being isolated from the international financial system.” He stressed that returning money to depositors is not impossible, considering that “depositors should not wait longer.”
Mansouri added that the Lebanese economy declined from about 55 billion dollars to about 20 billion, indicating that the crisis cannot be resolved except with a lot of integration between the technical, legal, and political bodies.
Mansouri confirmed, in an interview with Al-Arabiya channel, that the Central Bank’s decision not to finance the Lebanese state with the pound or the dollar is “final and irreversible,” noting that “this is accepted even by the Lebanese government and everyone knows that it is no longer possible to continue with previous policies.” ».
Many people in Lebanon are wondering about the purpose of Mansouri’s visit to Saudi Arabia of Lebanon, Wassim Mansouri, to Saudi Arabia, to which he went accompanied by the Lebanese Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Fawzi Kabbara, and the Director General of the Ministry of Economy and Trade, Muhammad Abu Haidar, in response to an official invitation to attend the activities of the Arab Banking Conference, organized by the Arab Union of Banks. With the Central Bank of Saudi Arabia.
Mohamed Fahili, an expert in banking risks and a researcher in economics, believes that “Mansouri’s visit to Saudi Arabia is a routine visit, especially in light of the economic and monetary crisis that Lebanon is going through, with the Lebanese people’s long wait for reforms and their implementation.”
According to Lebanese media report , Mansouri had hinted during his last meeting with Walid Bukhari, the Saudi ambassador to Lebanon that he wanted to request Saudi financial assistance to the Lebanese security and military forces but the chances of any assistance are almost nil , since Riyadh has been stressing that the first priorities for Lebanon are the financial reforms, and the election of a president of the republic, before providing any possible financial support to Lebanon.
Ya Libnan/ News Agencies
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