After weeks of uncertainty, the first vice-governor of the Banque du Liban announced that he agreed to take over from Tuesday Governor Riad Salamé, whose fifth term expired on Monday. Wassim Mansouri will take over as interim and will be the first Shiite to run this financial institution which is traditionally entrusted to a Maronite.
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With our correspondent in Beirut, Paul Khalifeh
After the vacancy in the presidency of the Republic which has lasted for nine months now, and a government responsible for expediting current affairs boycotted by the main Christian party, the Central Bank joins the key Lebanese institutions run on an interim basis.
During a press conference on Monday July 31, Wassim Mansouri, a close friend of the Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berry, did not hide the immensity of the task that awaits him. This economist by training offered a roadmap to try to avoid a total financial collapse and warned that if the same policies continued to be implemented, the last foreign exchange reserves of the Banque du Liban would soon run out.
Avoid total financial collapse
For the new boss of the Central Bank, the priority must go to the definitive cessation of State financing by the financial institution. He announced that starting tomorrow, he will not be signing any requests for state funding outside of his ” beliefs and the legal framework “. To avoid collapse, Wassim Mansouri proposes the adoption within six months of three urgent laws: the 2023 budget, capital control and the restructuring of the banking sector.
Realistic, Wassim Mansouri recognized the limits of his action, affirming that his prerogatives did not allow him to do ” at the same time monetary, financial and economic policy “. On the other hand, he promised the Lebanese ” more transparency and called on politicians to stop involving the Central Bank in their eternal disputes.