Tuesday, Aug 23, 2011
BEIRUT (Zawya Dow Jones)--Lebanon's gold reserve remains the foundation of the national currency and the country has no intention to sell this reserve despite the precious metal's high value, Beirut-based An Nahar daily reports Tuesday citing Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh.
"When Lebanon owns oil wealth, it would be possible to change our strategy," he told students from the U.S. Harvard University, the paper reports.
The country's gold reserve stood at 24.485 trillion Lebanese pounds ($16.24 billion) on August 15, according to central bank data. Oil-poor Lebanon intends to explore for natural gas and oil in the Mediterranean Sea.
News agency website: http://www.annahar.com/content.php?priority=3&table=eco&type=eco&day=Tue
-By Beirut Bureau, Zawya Dow Jones; +961-1-985 757; BeirutZDJ@zawya.com
Copyright (c) 2011 Dow Jones & Co.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
23-08-11 0930GMT
