Salameh Denies Rumors about His Resignation

Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh on Tuesday slammed rumors about his resignation and assured that he has “plans to steer Lebanon out of the crisis.”

“I don’t want to resign because I have in my mind a strategy to get out of this crisis,” he told CNBC News Anchor and International Correspondent Hadley Gamble in an interview.

“I am sorry to disappoint those who are spreading rumors about my resignation everyday,” he added.

Media reports circulated on Monday claiming Salameh plans to step down from his post within 48 hours.

On the unprecedented economic and financial crisis, Salameh said the Lebanese have the right “to say that it's time to go, but they do not have to say that it is the central bank of Lebanon that is responsible for this situation.

"We did not create the deficit in the government or in the current account, we have always called for reduction of the deficit. These two deficits over the last five years have cost the country 81 billion dollars. It is not the central bank that created these two deficits,” he said.

Asked whether the central bank was the one to “enable” these deficits, he said: “The duty of the central bank according to law is to do whatever is possible to maintain the stability and continuity in the credit market. What we did are regulations that have helped maintain for 27 years this country afloat while it lived wars, assassination and civil strife.”