(Illustration by Jaimee Lee Haddad)
It's now official. Following the long reign of Riad Salameh, the fallen king of Lebanese finance after four terms, and Wassim Manssouri's interim position since July 31, 2023, Karim Souhaid becomes the sixth fully-fledged governor of the Central Bank. While the candidacy of the person who controlled the Central Bank for 30 years was supported in 1993 by the prime minister of the time, Rafic Hariri, Souhaid was endorsed by the president, Joseph Aoun, against the will of Prime Minister Nawaf Salam.After securing more than two-thirds of the votes during the government meeting on March 27, which is required for such a nomination, the wealth manager, originally from Qartaba (Jbeil), will occupy one of the most coveted positions in Lebanon for six years.The ‘candidate of the banks’Before being labeled as the favorite candidate of...
It's now official. Following the long reign of Riad Salameh, the fallen king of Lebanese finance after four terms, and Wassim Manssouri's interim position since July 31, 2023, Karim Souhaid becomes the sixth fully-fledged governor of the Central Bank. While the candidacy of the person who controlled the Central Bank for 30 years was supported in 1993 by the prime minister of the time, Rafic Hariri, Souhaid was endorsed by the president, Joseph Aoun, against the will of Prime Minister Nawaf Salam.After securing more than two-thirds of the votes during the government meeting on March 27, which is required for such a nomination, the wealth manager, originally from Qartaba (Jbeil), will occupy one of the most coveted positions in Lebanon for six years.The ‘candidate of the banks’Before being labeled as the favorite candidate of...