Lebanon's central bank seeks extra powers, wants controls standardised

Lebanon's central bank is seeking extra powers to regulate and standardise controls which commercial banks are imposing on depositors, the governor said on Sunday, saying his intention was to ensure "fair relationships" between banks and customers. Central bank governor Riad Salameh, in a text message to Reuters, confirmed sending a letter to Lebanon's finance minister on Jan. 9 seeking "exceptional powers necessary to issue regulations pertaining" to conditions in the sector.

He said no new measures were planned. The letter, reported by Lebanese media late on Saturday, said the measures imposed by commercial banks needed to be regulated and unified "with the aim of implementing them fairly and equally on all depositors and clients".