Lebanese President Michel Aoun, Governor of the Central Bank, Riad Salameh, called for organizing the banking sector and curbing speculation on the Lebanese pound, at a time when the US State Department expressed its concern about the developments in this country.
In a statement, the US State Department called on the leaders of Lebanon to put their differences aside and seek to form a government that carries out reforms that save the country's economy.
Aoun informed the governor of the Central Bank of the need to be strict to curb speculation and clean up the banking sector. According to a statement issued by the Information Office of the Presidency of the Republic, Aoun stressed the need to restore confidence, so that Lebanon returns to a banking base in the region.
For his part, Salama informed the President of the Republic that the Central Bank decided to launch work on the electronic platform belonging to it, so that all transactions are recorded and become the main reference for the real market price.
Antoine Constantine, advisor to the president, said that the bank would intervene when needed to absorb liquidity from the markets, with the aim of controlling the exchange rate of the US dollar.
The high exchange rate of the dollar sparked a series of popular protests and road blocks in all regions, as well as an unprecedented rise in food prices and a decrease in the purchasing power of the Lebanese.
The exchange rate of the dollar against the lira (the local currency) increased by 15 thousand pounds, last Tuesday, for the first time, to decrease again for the past two days, and today it reaches 10 thousand and two hundred pounds.
Three weeks ago, Lebanon has been witnessing popular protests denouncing the deterioration of living conditions and the continued deterioration of the local currency exchange rate, in a country where the interests of regional and Western countries are in conflict.