President Aoun asks central bank to investigate currency tumble

President Michel Aoun said on Wednesday he had asked the central bank governor Riyad Salameh for an inquiry into the reasons behind the country's latest currency tumble.

 

The collapse of the Lebanese pound, which fell to 10,000 to the dollar on Tuesday, sent protesters blocking roads across Lebanon.

 

"President Aoun has asked the central bank governor to hand the results of the investigation to the public prosecutor," a statement posted on the official Twitter account of the president said.

 

He also asked Salameh about the course of the forensic audit after Alvarez and Marsal said that the Ministry of Finance did not give satisfactory answers to the questions that had been previously posed to the central bank as a precondition for enabling it to carry out its duties.

 

On another note, Aoun stressed that the right to demonstrate “is sacred” and that one of the duties of the security forces is to protect demonstrators along with public and private properties and to ensure the right of movement of people, which are rights enshrined in the constitution.

 

LBCI/REUTERS