Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh said on Friday that "the bank's gold reserves amounted to 17.547 billion US dollars until the end of last February, adding that Lebanon maintains its position as the second largest gold reserve in the Arab region, with a wealth estimated at about 286 tons of gold."
Salameh made the remarks during an exclusive interview with the director of the "Middle East News Agency" office in Lebanon, in which he noted that "the total cash reserves of foreign currencies amounted to 12 billion and 748 million dollars until the end of last February."
He added that "the volume of the securities portfolio owned by the Lebanese Central Bank amounted until the end of last February to 4 billion and 197 million dollars, which includes euro bonds, a slight increase from last January."
"The remittances of the Lebanese working abroad amounted to about 6 billion and 400 million dollars during 2021," he explained.
Salameh also pointed out that "what happened to the financial sector in Lebanon is being addressed in the recovery plan that is being prepared by the Lebanese government in cooperation with the International Monetary Fund," praising the "initial agreement reached between the Lebanese government and the fund yesterday."
He stressed that “news circulated about the bankruptcy of the Central Bank is incorrect," adding that "the bank is exercising its role entrusted to it under Article 70 of the Monetary and Credit Law and will continue to do so, despite the losses that have afflicted the financial sector in Lebanon."