Cabinet inclined to name Karim Soaid as central bank chief

Cabinet is inclined to name Karim Soaid as central bank governor in its session on Thursday, media reports said.

“Finance Minister Yassine Jaber submitted three names -- Karim Soaid, Eddy Gemayel and Jamil Baz -- amid consensus between President Joseph Aoun and Speaker Nabih Berri over Karim Soaid and following a meeting between Berri and Jaber that discussed the proposed names,” An-Nahar newspaper reported.

“As for the reports about the exclusion of ex-minister Jihad Azour, it turned out that these reports are baseless, seeing as Azour had informed those who contacted him that he was not nominating himself for the central bank governor post,” the daily added.

Soaid is the brother of former lawmaker and March 14 secretariat-general coordinator Fares Soaid.