Beirut (AP) – Lebanon’s new central bank governor vowed Friday that the agency will fight money laundering and financing of terrorism and will be independent of political intervention.
Karim SouaidHe spoke after he formally took office in Beirut, adding that he would work on restructuring the banking industry, public debt and money returned to depositors.
Lebanon’s economy has been witnessing its worst crisis in modern history since 2019, and the country must implement reforms demanded by the international community. Such reforms are needed to unlock international aid and, most importantly, Israel and Hezbollah This led to the World Bank’s estimate It’s $11 billion in damage and economic losses.
The crisis in Lebanon stems from decades of corruption by the country’s political and financial leaders who exhausted state resources and ultimately led to a bank run in 2019, after which people lost their deposits. The situation has become more and more serious since then Port explosion August 2020 and Israel-Herra War.
Lebanon has started a cash economy since the beginning of its historic collapse, and in October, the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force or international anti-money laundering regulator Fatf put Lebanon on its “grey list”.
“We will work hard to implement international laws, besides combating money laundering and supporting terrorism,” Souaid said. The former asset manager added that banks in Lebanon should reorganize by drawing new funds, with funds that do not want to merge with other lenders. He said that the top priority is to start returning goods from the small person in the account. He said that returns to deposits should be the responsibility of the banks, central banks and states.
Suyed said the central bank will look at all the economic recovery plans proposed by the previous government to help small countries get out of the crisis.
Wassim Mansouri, who has served as central bank governor since July 2023, said the central bank’s reserves had a reserve of 10.727 billion at the end of March.
Souaid Success Riad SalamehThe embattled former governor’s 30-year term ended, with several international corruption cases targeting him, embezzling public funds and other financial crimes. Salameh was appointed in 1993, when Lebanon scrambled to rebound after 15 years of civil war.
