Lebanese central bank governor defends his record after reports of inflated assets – The National

Lebanese central bank governor defends his record after reports of inflated assets – The National

External auditors were unable to confirm all deposit balances or conduct an inventory of the bank's gold reserves





























Riad Salameh has responded to allegations he inflated the central bank's assets. Reuters











Lebanon's central bank governor Riad Salameh on Friday responded to accusations that he had inflated his institution's assets by $6 billion in 2018, saying that the measures he took were "not meant to make its financial position seem stronger or to conceal losses.“



His actions, he said, were "in line with accounting policies approved by its board of directors“.



Mr Salameh's response was published on the website of Lebanese television LBCI a day after Reuters published a report claiming that Mr Salameh had balanced his books while helping to fund an ever-widening government deficit by recording a 10.27 trillion Lebanese pound ($6.82 bn / Dh25 bn) asset described as "seigniorage on financial stability".



The Financial Times broke the story on Tuesday, describing Mr Salameh's move as an "unorthodox accounting measure“ to "swell the bank's assets and balance its books as risky liabilities grew“.



The accounts were signed off with qualifications