Aoun Chairs Baabda Financial Meeting Boycotted by Hariri
President Michel Aoun on Friday presided over a financial meeting in Baabda aimed at discussing the deteriorating economic and financial situations in the country.
A statement issued after the meeting said the president "proposed several suggestions to resolve the crisis."
"The central bank governor has been tasked with taking the necessary temporary measures in coordination with the Association of Banks in Lebanon," the statement added.
"The conferees stressed the importance of preserving the monetary situation and Lebanon's liberal system," the statement said.
ABL chief Salim Sfeir meanwhile told reporters that there will be no official "capital control."
The meeting was attended by caretaker ministers Ali Hassan Khalil, Salim Jreissati, Mansour Bteish and Adel Afiouni, Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh, the head of the committee overseeing banks Samir Hammoud, Association of Banks chief Salim Sfeir, caretaker PM Saad Hariri’s financial advisor Nadim al-Munla and Presidency Director General Antoine Choucair.
Media reports said Hariri had been invited to the meeting but opted to boycott it.
“Hariri boycotted the financial meeting and was represented by his adviser Nadim al-Munla and Minister Adel Afiouni, because he considers that the solutions to the financial, economic and social crises begin by setting a date for the binding parliamentary consultations and forming a government whose mission would be to run the country’s affairs and resolve crises,” al-Jadeed TV said.
The meeting comes as Lebanon grapples with widespread anti-government protests since October 17, a free-falling economy, and an escalating liquidity crisis.
The dollar exchange rate in the parallel market has shot up from the pegged rate of 1,507 pounds to the greenback to around 2,250.
Fear of financial collapse caused a capital flight and some $800 million appear to have left the country from October 15 to November 7, a period during which the banks were mostly closed.
Vehicles ran out of gas Friday and were parked in the middle of the streets in protest amid an open-ended strike by the owners of gas stations.
The owners have accused the central bank and oil importers of failing to honor an agreement on allowing them to pay in Lebanese lira amid the dollar shortage in the country.
The Syndicate has staged several strikes in recent months over the same crisis.
Source: Naharnet
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