The facade of the Central Bank in Hamra, Dec. 30, 2024. (Credit: Philippe Hage Boutros/L'Orient-Le Jour)
Finance Minister Yassin Jaber said in an interview with Asharq Business – an Arabic-language media partner of Bloomberg – and reported by local media, that the appointment of a new governor of the Central Bank (BDL) could occur before the end of March "to ensure continuity of work at the bank."
The former Amal MP stated that it was necessary for the future governor to have a "good reputation" and "extensive experience in financial and monetary fields."
Since the end of Riad Salameh's sixth term in July 2023, the first vice-governor of the BDL, Wassim Manssouri, has been acting as the interim head, due to divisions within the political class on the choice of a successor.
The situation has changed since the election of Joseph Aoun to the presidency – which ended more than two years of vacancy – followed by the formation of Nawaf Salam's government, which replaced Najib Mikati's which was in caretaker status since May 2022. Negotiations are continuing behind the scenes at the Baabda Palace, the Grand Serail, and the Ministry of Finance to find a successor.
When asked about the fate of the billions of dollars of deposits blocked by banks since the beginning of the crisis in 2019, which need to be subject to a restitution and restructuring plan of the banking sector, the minister assured during this interview that it was "out of the question" for these deposits to be purely and simply canceled, among other statements.