Riad Salameh's bold moves amidst Banque du Liban departure

With his departure from the Banque du Liban (BDL) governorship, Riad Salameh is making significant changes to the bank's budget.

Weeks ago, $16.5 billion was transferred to the state's treasury, although the International Monetary Fund (IMF) did not admit it, with Finance Minister Youssef Khalil remaining silent.

This article is originally published in, translated from Lebanese newspaper Nidaa Al-Watan.

Salameh justifies this transfer as treasury advances that had accumulated from the BDL to the Finance Ministry to purchase fuel for Lebanon's electricity, knowing that government budgets do not recognize the accounting methods of the central bank.

Meanwhile, it was revealed on Friday that Salameh reduced the item of "other assets" by LBP 77 trillion and transferred it to what he called the "exchange rate stability fund."

However, this number represents a loss anyway. Still, Salameh deliberately transferred it to the cost of defending the lira after obtaining approval from the Prime Minister and the Finance Ministry for measures that reduced the dollar exchange rate from LBP 143,000 about two months ago to around LBP 94,000 currently.

Thus, he seems to be saying that the cost of market manipulation also falls on the state, without knowing where the Finance Ministry will record this accounting process.