Mikati says won’t request extension or replacement for Salameh

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati has stressed that he “will not request the extension of the term of Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh nor the appointment of a successor,” because he does not want to “deepen the rift between the Lebanese.”

“The solution for filling the vacuum in the Central Bank governorship upon the expiry of Salameh’s term is the implementation of the law that allows his deputy (Wassim) Mansouri to carry out his missions,” Mikati said in an interview with Asharq al-Awsat newspaper published Monday.

“Whoever has another solution must present it and on my part I will not nominate any candidate for succeeding Salameh,” Mikati added.

As for the resignation threat by the Central Bank’s four vice governors, the premier said that should they step down, “caretaker Finance Minister Youssef Khalil will ask them to act in caretaker capacity,” Mikati said.