Mansouri lauds KSA role, assures that BDL will not finance state

Interim Central Bank Governor Wassim Mansouri reassured Monday that the Central Bank will not finance the Lebanese state, neither in dollar nor in LBP.

"The decision is final," Mansouri said in an interview with al-Arabiyya, stressing that the state must find other ways to finance its budget deficit.

The acting BDL governor is visiting Riyadh for the first time to participate in the Arab Banking Conference, nearly a month after he took over the leadership at the Central Bank as the term of his predecessor, Riad Salameh, ended on July 31.

"Saudi Arabia will always play a positive role in helping Lebanon to overcome its financial crisis," Mansouri said, on the conference's sidelines.

Mansouri had previously announced in a press conference in Lebanon that the bank will not print Lebanese currency to cover for the state's deficit and that financial regularity cannot be achieved without passing reforms.

Since taking office, Mansouri has been urging the government to pass some reforms, cautioning that the Central Bank cannot continue to spend money to fund the government’s budget deficit. "There is no choice, if we continue previous policy ... the funds in the Central Bank will eventually dry up," Mansouri had said.

He also vowed to phase out the Sayrafa platform and froze last month the accounts of the bank's embattled former chief and close relatives and associates days after the United States, United Kingdom and Canada slapped sanctions on them.