Beirut, Lebanon – Riad Salameh, the controversial head of Lebanon’s central bank, said on Sunday that he would leave his post once his current term ended in July.
In an interview with Egypt’s AlQahera News on Sunday, he stated: “No one has asked me to stay [as central bank chief], but even if they do, I think this is enough.”
Since Lebanon’s financial system started to collapse in 2019, Salameh, who was appointed president of the central bank in 1993, has come under heightened scrutiny both domestically and internationally.
Over 80 percent of Lebanon’s population now lives below the poverty line as a result of the collapse, which has locked out the majority of savers from their bank accounts.
Salameh is being investigated in Lebanon and abroad for alleged embezzlement. Lebanon’s finance minister has said he would be difficult to replace once his term ends.
Earlier this month, Lebanon officially devalued the national currency for the first time in more than two decades to 15,000 pounds to the US dollar, a 90 percent devaluation from the previous peg of 1,507.
But in the parallel market, it was 80,000 pounds to the US dollar over the last week.
