Govt. Forms Crisis Cell to Enforce Financial and Monetary Decisions

Cabinet on Friday approved a number of measures aimed at reining in the rapid devaluation of the Lebanese pound.

A statement issued after a Cabinet session in Baabda said the justice minister has been tasked to ask the state prosecutor to conduct investigations over “fabrications and false claims aimed at devaluing the national currency.”

A crisis cell led by the finance minister will also be formed and tasked with “following up on the developments of the financial and monetary situations and enforcing decisions.”

It will convene twice a week and submit periodic reports to the prime minister and the Council of Ministers.

Security agencies were also asked to be stricter in “suppressing all violations” related to financial and monetary crimes.

Earlier in the day, the government pledged to inject dollars into the market, after a night of angry protests triggered by the currency plumbing, new black market lows and the worst recession in decades.

Lebanese media reported that the exchange rate had touched 6,000 pounds per dollar on the black market on Friday, compared to the official peg of 1,507 in place since 1997.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who held a tripartite meeting with President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister Hassan Diab, said the government's measures aim to bring the exchange rate to stronger than 4,000 pounds to the dollar.