Salameh to Hold Press Conference Monday

Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh is scheduled to hold a press conference Monday at 12:30 pm, the National News Agency said.

The press conference at the central bank will tackle “the central bank’s stance on the issues pertaining to banking services ahead of the normal resumption of banking operations on Tuesday,” NNA said.

Lebanese bankers and officials tried to calm a worried public Saturday, telling them that all deposits are guaranteed and "there is no need for panic."

The country's financial troubles have worsened since nationwide protests -- initially against new taxes -- snowballed into calls for the entire political elite to step down. Banks reopened Nov. 1 after a two-week closure amid the protests. But depositors have rushed to withdraw their money in recent days, while the country's various lenders have imposed varying capital controls that differ from bank to bank.

The announcement by Salim Sfeir, chairman of the Association of Banks in Lebanon, came after a two-hour meeting between President Michel Aoun, several caretaker Cabinet ministers and top banking officials in search of solutions for Lebanon's deepening financial and economic crisis.