Central bank governor of the year 2006 Minister of Finance of the year 2006
Euromoney announces the winners of its prestigious annual awards for the leading central bank governor and minister of finance in the global economy.
At a reception held in Raffles Plaza Hotel in Singapore during the 2006 IMF/World Bank meetings and attended by more than 400 people, the awards were presented to Riad Salamé, the governor of the Banque du Liban, and Dr Sri Mulyani Indrawati, the minister of finance of Indonesia, by the chairman of Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC Padraic Fallon.
Fallon said that Salamé faced yet another challenge in his 13-year tenure as Lebanon’s central bank governor after the conflict between Hizbollah and Israel. However he had dealt with previous challenges with flying colours, and there was little to suggest it would be any different this time.
Euromoney said in its citation: “There has been no meltdown in Lebanon’s financial markets, or a run on the banks or major sell-off in the currency. That is largely attributable to the foundations laid by the battle-hardened central bank. The bank has, for example, built up its foreign reserves to $13 billion, acting as a safety net in ensuring the Lebanese pound remains stable.