BEIRUT, Apr 25 (NNN-NNA) – Lebanese Prime Minister, Hassan Diab, accused the central bank’s governor of adopting a “mysterious” approach in dealing with the U.S. dollar crisis in the country.
“The behaviour of the central bank’s governor is very mysterious and it is causing further deterioration in the country, by exacerbating the social disaster,” Diab said, in a televised speech, following a cabinet meeting.
The price of the dollar to the Lebanese pound increased to unprecedented levels, causing concerns among the Lebanese, whose purchasing power dropped tremendously due to the devaluation of their salaries, mostly paid in Lebanese pounds, whereas Lebanon imports most of its products in U.S. dollars.
Diab urged the central bank’s governor, Riad Salameh, to address the Lebanese people honestly and transparently, about the current situation and the reasons behind this deterioration.
He pointed out that there are a lot of gaps in the central bank’s strategy and monetary policy.” I have information about losses amounting to seven billion dollars, incurred by the central bank, since the start of this year,” Diab said.
He noted that there were 5.7 billion dollars that have been transferred out of Lebanese banks to foreign banks, during Jan and Feb, despite restrictions by banks on cash withdrawals or transfers.
Lebanon witnessed, in the past few months, a shortage in dollars, caused by economic slowdown and the drop in cash injections from Lebanese abroad, in addition to transfers by big depositors to foreign countries, reducing the central bank’s foreign currency reserves and leading to a shortage in dollar for businesses and individuals.
Hence, banks put restrictions on cash withdrawals by people and their transfers from Lebanese pounds to dollars, creating panic among depositors.
This has caused demands on the U.S. currency to increase, leading to an increase in its price to the Lebanese pound.
