President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, tackled the repercussions of the State Consultative Council’s decision to stop the implementation of the BDL Circular No. 151, in a meeting at the Baabda Palace, today.
The meeting was attended by Central Bank Governor, Riad Salameh, and President of the State Consultative Council Fadi Elias, after which it was decided to consider Circular No. 151 issued by the BDL, as still valid.
Statement:
President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, chaired a financial and judicial meeting, today at the Presidential Palace.
Governor of the Central Bank, Riad Salameh, and President of the Shura State Council, Judge Fadi Elias, attended the meeting.
After discussion and deliberation, and since the BDL has not been notified of a valid copy of the aforementioned decision for implementation, and m had submitted a review to the State Shura Council that included new additional elements that were not included in the file, it was decided that Circular No. 151 issued by the Central Bank is still valid.
Attendees also stressed the necessity of cooperation between the BDL and the Shura State Council for the benefit of Lebanon.
Questions & Answers:
After the statement, a discussion took place between Salameh and journalists.
Question: Why does the BDL not declare its bankruptcy, and where is the money of the Lebanese?
Answer: “Because the BDL is not bankrupt, and the money of the Lebanese is in the banks and not with the BDL”.
Question: But the banks say that the depositors’ money is with the Banque du Liban?
Answer: “That’s what they say. Banks have funds from the state, owed funds to the private sector, and private funds deposited abroad”.
Question: Does this mean that the depositors’ funds have evaporated?
Answer: “No, and soon we will start returning the depositors’ money”.
Question: As long as the decision of the State Council was preliminary, why did you issue a circular suspending the implementation of Resolution 151?
Answer: “We were informed of the decision, but there were some things that the President of the State Shura Council referred to, and we did not issue a circular canceling a circular, but rather issued a declaration expressing our respect for the State Shura Council and the judiciary.
We have taken the measures that have been decided upon.
Today, Judge Elias explained to us that there is a possibility not to implement the decision immediately, because there was no sealed notification, and if we submitted a review, this would give us time before implementation”.
Financial Meeting:
President Aoun also chaired a financial meeting in the presence of the Central Bank Governor, Riad Salameh, during which they discussed securing the financing of basic materials backed by foreign currency.
During the meeting, the available solutions were approached in accordance with the Monetary and Credit Law, provided that communication between Minister of Finance Ghazi Wazni and Governor Salame for this purpose took place.
During the meeting, President Aoun made a phone call to Prime Minister Dr. Hassan Diab and Minister Wazni. — Press Office
Source: National News Agency