BEIRUT, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese central bank governor Riad Salameh said on Thursday that he will investigate into the alleged transfers of billions of dollars to Switzerland, the National News Agency reported.
"We will take all necessary legal measures to find out if such big transfers were made by Lebanese politicians or not," Salameh said during a meeting with caretaker Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil.
Salameh's remarks came following an announcement by economist Marwan Iskandar days ago that he was informed by a Swiss reporter that the Swiss Parliament was investigating into the transfers of over 2 billion U.S. dollars to Swiss banks by some Lebanese polititians.
Lebanon has witnessed in the past few months a shortage in the U.S. dollars due to an economic slowdown and the drop in cash injections from Lebanese abroad, reducing the central bank's foreign currency reserves and leading to a shortage in dollar for businesses and individuals.
Hence, banks put restrictions on withdrawals of depositors and their transfers from Lebanese pounds to U.S. dollars.
