Lebanon's central bank governor ends 30-year tenure under investigation during dire economic crisis

abcnews.go.com:

Lebanon’s embattled central bank governor has ended his 30-year tenure

BEIRUT — Lebanon's embattled central bank governor stepped down Monday under a cloud of investigation and blame for his country's economic crisis as several European countries probe him for alleged financial crimes.

Riad Salameh, 73, ended his 30-year tenure atop the central bank as tearful employees took photos and a band played celebratory music with drums and trumpets.

In that same building, his four vice governors, led by incoming interim governor Wassim Mansouri, quickly pivoted to urge fiscal reforms for the cash-strapped country.

“We are at a crossroads,” Mansouri said at a news conference. “There is no choice, if we continue previous policy… the funds in the Central Bank will eventually dry up.”

Seventy-three-year-old Riad Salameh kicked off his tenure as central bank governor in 1993, three years after Lebanon’s bloody 15-year civil war came to an end. It was a time when reconstruction loans and aid was pouring into the country, and Salameh was widely celebrated at the time for his role in Lebanon's recovery.

Now, he leaves his post a wanted man in Europe, accused by many in Lebanon of being a main culprit in the country's financial downfall since late 2019.

It was a steep fall for a leader whose policies were once hailed for keeping the currency stable. Later, many financial experts saw him as setting up a house of cards that crumbled as the country's supply of dollars dried up on top of decades of rampant and corruption and mismanagement from Lebanon's ruling parties.

The crisis has pulverized the Lebanese pound and wiped out the savings of many Lebanese, as the banks ran dry of hard currency.

With the country's banks crippled and public