Dr. Nasser Saidi’s comments were part of an Associated press article. Titled “Slow progress as Lebanon awaits IMF economic deal“, the article was published on 29th December 2021, in many newspapers including France 24.
Former vice governor of the central bank, Nasser Saidi, suggested the IMF would want to examine the audit, but Chami said no demands had yet been made.
“We don’t know if a forensic audit, or any audit, will be part of a potential IMF program,” Chami said.
A potential IMF agreement will ultimately bring in other donors, such as the World Bank and Gulf Arab states, who may demand it as a precondition for support. “We need to understand what is going on inside the central bank,” Chami said. “There is a total lack of transparency.”
For Saidi, a key question is the actual value of central bank reserves and the real value of financial sector losses.
“There seems to be no willingness to undertake a forensic audit,” he said, but added that the “bottom line is the IMF will be looking –- before anything — for promises of good governance.”
