Aoun asks the governor of the Banque du Liban to investigate the causes of the collapse of the Lebanese pound

Lebanese President Michel Aoun said today (Wednesday) that he had asked Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh to carry out an investigation into the causes of the currency’s latest depreciation, according to Reuters.
The collapse of the Lebanese pound, which fell to 10,000 against the dollar yesterday (Tuesday), sparked protests that closed streets across Lebanon.
“President Aoun asked the governor of the Banque du Liban to forward the results of the investigation to the Prosecutor’s Office,” said a statement posted on the president’s official Twitter account.
For its part, the Lebanese Banks Association denied today what is circulating about its responsibility for the rise in the dollar exchange rate on the black market, saying that controlling the dollar’s sliding rate depends on political developments that restore confidence in the dollar. . Lebanese, according to the German News Agency.
The Banking Association said, in a press release today, that it “flatly denies everything that has been circulated in recent days about the role of banks in raising the dollar exchange rate on the black market,” noting that «The banking liquidity requirements abroad by the Banque du Liban in accordance with Circular 154 exceed $ 3.4 billion at the sector level.
And he considered that “controlling the flight of the dollar on the black market depends on political developments that restore confidence in the Lebanese and the adoption of inclusive policies by the various authorities interested in controlling Lebanon’s external financial deficits.”
And he said that the reasons behind the high dollar exchange rate on the black market are due to “the political uncertainty in the country in the face of political confusion, interactions and rivalries in the absence of any serious and real effort to form the next government.” . seven months after the resignation of the previous government. “
He noted that one of the reasons for the high dollar exchange rate was “imports that are not subsidized by the Central Bank of Lebanon, whose value is estimated at at least $ 5 billion annually, so importers turn to the black market. “. to secure the necessary cash dollars. “
He noted that «the shortage of the dollar in the local market in the context of the marked decrease in the movement of external funds, which caused a deficit in the balance of payments of $ 10.5 billion in 2020, which is the largest deficit that Lebanon has known ”, is one of the reasons that led to the rise in the dollar exchange rate on the black market.
Several economic analysts attributed the reason for the high dollar exchange rate to the banks’ implementation of the Bank of Lebanon circular, which required them to secure bank liquidity requirements abroad and their purchase of dollars on the black market. .