Listen to the article
A former minister and a group of economic experts have appealed for maintaining the Governor of the Central Bank (BDL), Riad Salame, whose mandate expires on July 31, to expedite the affairs of the highest financial and monetary authority in the country until a president of the republic is elected and a new governor is appointed.
Ex-minister Wi’am Wahhab, in addition to Jassem Ajjaka, economist and professor at the Lebanese University, economy and finance researchers Maroun Khater and Mahmoud Jibahi, and Maurice Matta, a journalist and expert in economics, made the appeal when hosted on ‘Sar el-Wa’et’ program of the local MTV channel on Thursday evening.
The guests said they believed the country would head into more financial chaos and disaster if the governor’s post becomes vacant.
In his intervention, Wahhab accused the political class of seeking to put the blame on Salame and hold him responsible for all its failures and for squandering public funds, while inviting the government to “pay its debts which amount to more than 70 billion dollars”.
“In private circles and between four walls, official leaders recognize that in the current situation of the country, the only solution is to instruct Riad Salame to continue to expedite current affairs until the election of a head of state “Wahhab said, adding that he has informed Maronite patriarch, Bechara Raï, “of the need to maintain Riad Salame in his post temporarily.”
In response to a member of the audience, who wanted to know how “could we keep Riad Salame in his post while he is the subject of accusations,” Wahhab underlined that “so far no indictment or judgment has been issued against him.” He gave the example of former US President Donald Trump, who despite the accusations filed against him, is still a candidate for the US presidency.
The Vice-Governors Chastised
On their part, the economic experts strongly criticized the attitude of the Central Bank’s four vice-governors, Wassim Mansouri, Bachir Yakzan, Salim Chahine and Alexandre Mouradian, who have been brandishing the threat of resignation.
The vice-governors have “themselves recognized” that they were unable to manage the Central Bank under the current circumstances, the experts noted, adding that they did not understand how, on the eve of the expiry of Salame’s mandate, on July 31, they are criticizing his management and financial policies, which they have been endorsing as members of BDL’s Central Council for more than three years.
Commenting on reports that a new electronic platform, which would be managed by Bloomberg, Refinitiv or others, would replace the Sayrafa platform, the experts warned against such a move. They cautioned that “in such a case, the dollar exchange rate on the parallel market will soar and will not fall, in the best-case scenario, below the 500,000-pound mark.”
The participants also criticized the financial plan proposed by the four vice-governors, arguing that it is a duplicate of project presented by Deputy Prime Minister Saadé Chami, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The plan provides for the abolition of bank deposits and makes the banking sector and depositors assume full responsibility for the public debt.
The experts blasted the plan as “disastrous for the country, the depositors and the banks,” noting that “practice has shown that in countries where the IMF imposed its conditions, economic and financial collapse was the outcome.”
They also called for changing the members of the team leading the negotiations with the Monetary Fund.
In conclusion, the experts argued that the country has only two possible options to consider: Either the Christian parties agree on the appointment of a new governor, or Riad Salame will remain in office until the election of a new head of state.
