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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Lebanon central bank governor says bank deposits are safe

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BEIRUT: Lebanon’s central bank governor, seeking to shore up creaking confidence in the banking system amid the worst economic crisis in decades, said on Monday bank deposits are secure and it had the ability to preserve the stability of the Lebanese pound peg.


In a televised news conference, the governor, Riad Salameh, said capital controls were not on the table because Lebanon depended on free movement of money, adding that the central bank had taken steps to safeguard deposits and there would be no haircut.


Already in deep economic turmoil, Lebanon has been plunged deeper into trouble since October 17 when an unprecedented wave of protests against the ruling elite erupted across the country and prompted the resignation of Prime Minister Saad al Hariri.


A big part of Lebanon’s economic crisis stems from a slowdown of capital inflows which has led to a scarcity of US dollars and spawned a black market where the Lebanese pound has weakened below its official pegged rate.


Since reopening on November 1 after a two-week closure, banks have been seeking to stave off capital flight by blocking most transfers abroad and imposing curbs on hard-currency withdrawals.


Referring to these restrictions, Salameh said the central bank had asked banks to review what he described as somewhat “conservative” steps taken because of instability that was prevailing at the time banks had reopened.


Salameh said the banks would meet immediately to review and implement the central bank’s request.


He said that banks managing their liquidity did “not mean the solvency of the banking sector was reduced or poses dangers to deposits”.


Salameh said the central bank was allowing banks to borrow dollars without limits at 20 per cent interest to secure depositors’ needs on condition such funds were not transferred abroad.


“The mechanism we put in place to protect the depositor is through preventing any bank from failing,” he said.


In a further potential disruption to bank operations, a union representing bank staff urged them to go on strike starting on Tuesday because of security concerns stemming from protests at banks and depositors demanding withdrawal of their funds.


Salameh said the central bank hoped for the formation of a new government as soon as possible. The central bank would seek to bring down interest rates through liquidity management measures, he added.


“We are today in a new phase,” Salameh said. “We will preserve the stability of the exchange rate of the pound, this stability is present,” he said, noting that banks were still dealing dollars at the official pegged rate.


The difference between the official rate and that on the parallel market was due to “supply and demand”, he said. The central bank would not go to exchange dealers to give them dollars to preserve the official rate, he said.


Salameh said a round of so-called “financial engineering” in July had led to a $2 billion increase in its reserves, but the “exceptional circumstances” in Lebanon today did not allow for financial engineering and instead required liquidity management.


— Reuters


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