Lebanese Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh has agreed to raise the value of U.S. dollar deposits in Lebanon, Al-Akhbar reported on Thursday.
During a meeting of the Banque du Liban’s (BDL) Central Council on Wednesday, Salameh said that he had received a proposal from MP Ibrahim Kanaan, Head of the Finance and Budget Committee, to raise the exchange rate of dollar deposits to LBP 10,000/USD, as per the newspaper.
Salameh reportedly agreed with Kanaan on increasing the value of deposits, without settling on a specific exchange rate.
The said proposal comes as BDL Circular 151, which orders banks to pay deposits in Lebanese pounds at the LBP 3,900/USD exchange rate, approaches its mid-September expiration.
Despite the talks about raising the bank exchange rate, it remains possible that Salameh will opt to extend Circular 151’s validity without altering the rate.
It is to note that MP Kanaan had stated on Tuesday that his committee wanted to discuss ways to fix the multiple exchange rates dilemma in Lebanon (official rate, banks rate, and black-market rate).
Members of the same committee had suggested raising the exchange rate of dollar deposits, Kanaan noted, adding that the committee would discuss this issue next week.
