Lebanon’s central bank chief to end term with no successor

Riad Salameh

AFP: Crisis-hit Lebanon’s central bank chief Riad Salameh, who is wanted for alleged financial crimes in several European countries, was to leave his post Monday with no designated successor in place.
Lebanon’s deeply divided political class has failed to agree on a replacement for Salameh, 73, creating another power vacuum in a country that also has no president and is ruled by a caretaker government.
Salameh, who held the post for 30 years, is a key figure of the Lebanese political elite widely blamed for the country’s economic meltdown, which has seen the currency collapse and poverty rates soar.

Defending his legacy, Salameh days ago told a local broadcaster that he had been made a “scapegoat” for the crisis, and blamed the rest of Lebanon’s political class for abandoning him “a long time ago”. Under Lebanese law, Salameh will be temporarily replaced by the central bank’s first vice-governor, Wassim Manssouri.
However, all four vice-governors threatened to resign earlier this month. Manssouri was expected to announce later Monday whether he will take up the post.