DUBAI - Lebanon's central bank governor said on Tuesday that the new decisions on bank requirements would help stabilise the Lebanese pound's exchange rate.

Lebanon has $19.5 billion in reserves on top of gold reserve, Riad Salameh told Sky News Arabia. He said 30% of funds that exited Lebanese banks have to be returned, saying it was "not logical" for bank owners not to have their funds in their own banks.

Salameh said banks that do not comply with the latest directives on ratios will have to exit the market after February.

 

(Reporting by Maher Chmaytelli; Writing by Yousef Saba; Editing by Alison Williams) ((Yousef.Saba@thomsonreuters.com; +971562166204))