The Central Bank of Lebanon – Riad Salameh (Q&A)

As governor of Lebanon’s central bank for the past 16 years, Riad Salameh has seen political and financial instability wrack his country, and he has been lauded by domestic and foreign observers for his steady hand during those times of crisis. Executive Magazine recently sat down with the governor to discuss deposit tax, remittances and strategy. E At present, how is the Lebanese banking sector performing? When will it feel the impacts of the global financial crisis? Lebanon will not feel the effects of the financial crisis, because we took the necessary measures preemptively. This crisis has turned out to be a confidence crisis. Confidence in the banking sector in Lebanon and in the monetary in general, is very high, as witnessed by the large conversions from dollars to the Lebanese pound. In 2008, de-dollarization was important and the central bank bought more than $8 billion from the markets. Dollarization