Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said that he is neither covering or protecting central bank chief Riad Salameh.

“I am neither covering nor protecting Riad Salameh. I do not back people; i only support institutions,” he stressed.

“I am trying with the central bank governor to take all the necessary measures to curb the USD rise, and the bank’s central council will meet tomorrow to discuss the means to control this rate,” Mikati told a TV interview.

“The USD exchange rate will drop by tens of thousands of pounds when the constitutional life is regulated and a president of the republic is elected,” he expected.

“The dollar crisis is political,” he said. “Lebanon has not gone bankrupt, and nothing prevents returning money to depositors. I affirm that all deposits deposited before October 17, 2019, will be fully returned to their owners,” he pledged.

Moreover, Mikati said he is seeking to resolve the crisis of banks and their open-ended strike. “I hope that the strike will end in 48 hours,” he indicated. He also said that he does not interfere in the work of the judiciary, but he noted that the ongoing news about money laundering inside banks are unacceptable and they harm Lebanon’s reputation.

Asked about the extension of the mandate of the General Security Chief, Major General Abbas Ibrahim, Mikati said this move must be made inside the parliament, revealing that he has been asked to find a legal exit for this matter given the intricacy to convene the parliament presently.

“Passing the urgent laws is necessary and the state institutions must never be disrupted,” he underlined.

Furthermore, Mikati said that he will visit the Vatican next month for talks with Pope Francis over the presidential file.

Lashing out at the Free Patriotic Movement, he said it has become a movement of obstruction.

According to Mikati, there are signs that a president of the republic will be elected soon. “There is a team who wants the country to fully deteriorate,” he charged.

Source: National News Agency – Lebanon