Lebanese President Michel Aoun said that the rise in the exchange rate of the dollar is far from spontaneous, while the government held two meetings today that did not discuss the dismissal of the Governor of the Banque du Liban, in the wake of protests that left casualties and closures of shops.
Aoun added - in statements at the start of a second session of the government today, held at the presidential palace - that the huge losses in the financial system, and the collapse of the lira against the dollar Thursday, must be borne by the government, the central bank, and commercial banks, not depositors.
He pointed out that "what happened yesterday as a result of the high price of the dollar without any justification, makes us wonder whether the number given to the dollar price is a rumor that has been circulated to take people to the streets and confrontations occur? Is it a political game or banking or something else?"
Aoun announced that the central bank will start pumping the dollar into the market from Monday, to strengthen the lira, following its significant decline in the past few days.
For its part, Lebanese Minister of Information Manal Abdel Samad said that the government did not consider dismissing the governor of the Banque du Liban Riad Salameh.
She revealed that Salama pledged to secure pumping the dollar at a price that gradually decreases, starting from 3,850 pounds, so that banks and money changers can sell.
She added that the Council of Ministers mandated Justice Minister Marie-Claude Najem to investigate the large and unjustified drop of the pound against the dollar, in preparation for referring the results of the investigations to the relevant judiciary.
The minister said that the council also decided to form a crisis cell headed by Minister of Finance Ghazi Wazni, whose mission is to follow the developments of financial and monetary conditions.
"The Crisis Cell will meet twice a week at the Ministry of Finance, during which the Governor of the Central Bank will submit a detailed report on the developments, and the work summary will be submitted to the Prime Minister to present the matter to the government."
She pointed out that "the Council of Ministers asked the security services to deal strongly with all violations and refer them to the competent judiciary, as a prelude to taking legal measures against violators."
On the other hand, the Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament, Nabih Berri, announced on Friday the agreement of the three presidencies in Lebanon, the Republic, Representatives and the government, to reduce the exchange rate of the US dollar to 3,200 liras from Sunday.
Berri said after a meeting with President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister Hassan Diab at the Republican Palace in Baabda, that it was agreed to reduce the value of the dollar against the lira from today to below 4000 pounds to 3200. But that will not be effectively demonstrated until next Monday.
Protests, injuries and closures
This comes amid a new wave of protests across the Lebanese cities, which reached its climax on Thursday, with the outbreak of confrontations between the army and protesters in Riyadh al-Solh Square, in the center of the capital Beirut, and in the city of Tripoli (north).
Protesters had blocked a number of roads, demanding accountability for those responsible for the collapse of the national currency.
On Friday, the Lebanese Emergency and Relief Agency announced that more than 36 people were injured during clashes between the Lebanese army and demonstrators in Tripoli.
A number of markets and commercial shops in Lebanon witnessed a partial closure to protest the deteriorating economic and financial conditions, after the Lebanese pound recorded an unprecedented decline against the dollar, which amounted to more than five thousand pounds in the parallel market.
Lebanon is witnessing the worst economic collapse in decades, coinciding with a liquidity crisis and banks' failure to provide depositors with their money in dollars. The crisis caused an increase in the rate of inflation and placed nearly half of the population below the poverty line, and tens of thousands lost part of their salaries or jobs. Old institutions and hotels closed.
A number of bank branches were exposed to breaking its facades. The protesters tried to burn the Banque du Liban in Tripoli.