Lebanon's central bank

Lebanon central bank says will pay up to $400m to finance imports of essential medicine and flour

sarah.glubb — Mon, 05 Jul 2021 14:48:50 +0000

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Mon, 2021-07-05 17:47

LONDON: Lebanon’s central bank said on Monday it would pay up to $400 million to finance imports of essential medicine and flour.
Lebanon’s medicine importers said on Sunday they had run out of hundreds of essential drugs and warned of more shortages, as the country’s financial crisis batters the health sector.
The Governor of the Banque du Liban, Riad Salameh, said the central bank “will pay the credits and invoices that will be submitted to the Banque du Liban by the banks and which are related to medicines, especially medicines for chronic and incurable diseases.”

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Lebanon grants limited access to bank deposits amid crisis

sarah.glubb — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 21:01:09 +0000

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Tue, 2021-06-08 23:55

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s central bank said Tuesday that depositors will be allowed to withdraw limited monthly amounts from their foreign currency accounts, nearly 20 months after banks denied them access amid a severe financial crisis.
The move is a small step toward instituting formal capital controls after Lebanese banks arbitrarily imposed policies preventing depositors from accessing their dollar accounts even as the local currency collapsed and a black market thrived.

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Lebanon’s central bank says not enough reserves for medical supplies

sarah.glubb — Thu, 27 May 2021 12:39:31 +0000

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Reuters

Thu, 2021-05-27 15:37

BEIRUT: Lebanon's central bank said on Thursday that a system for importing subsidised medical goods could not be sustained without using its mandatory reserves and asked the relevant authorities to find a solution to the problem.
Lebanon, which in the throes of a financial crisis that is threatening its stability, has been subsidising fuel, wheat, medicine and other basic goods since last year.

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Lebanon hires US firm for central bank probe

Sajjadkk — Wed, 22 Jul 2020 19:34:00 +0000

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NAJIA HOUSSARI

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Wed, 2020-07-22 22:29

BEIRUT: The Lebanese government has hired Alvarez & Marsal, a New York-based professional services firm, to carry out a forensic audit of central bank accounts since 2015 amid claims finances have been mismanaged in the corruption-plagued country.

Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni asked for a week to prepare documents to sign the contract for the audit, which could take between three and six months.

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Lebanon says rise in imports behind spike in dollar demand

rbksa — Thu, 03 Oct 2019 16:22:52 +0000

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AFP

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AFP

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1570118763261701800

Thu, 2019-10-03 15:46

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s central bank governor said Thursday that increased imports could have raised the demand for dollars in the country, noting this has pushed money changers to charge higher exchange rates.
In a televised speech, Riad Salameh also raised doubts over whether increased imports were being used for local consumption, following reports of smuggling to neighboring Syria.
“We don’t know if all of these imports are for domestic consumption,” he said.
Lebanon has had a fixed exchange rate of around 1,500 Lebanese pounds to the dollar in place since 1997.

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Riad Salameh

Lebanon's central bank