The newly appointed Central Bank Governor Mr. Karim Souaid officially took office on Friday in a handover ceremony where he outlined his vision for the upcoming period. Mr. Souaid first pledged to crack down on the illegal economy by combatting money laundering and terrorism financing, while adding that any activity that does not conform to the code of money and credit will be deemed illegal. Mr. Souaid commented that the Central Bank must not keep on financing the state, while adding that the priority will be to tackle the deposits’ issue via the contribution of the state, the Central Bank and commercial banks, starting with small depositors and then medium depositors. The new Central Bank Governor stated that the Central Bank will be studying all economic recovery plans that have been put forth  and will work on restoring confidence in the banking sector, urging banks to increase their capital gradually by injecting new funds, commenting that banks which don’t have the capacity/willingness to do so will need to merge with other banks. Finally, Mr. Souaid pointed out that the Central Bank will strive to find incentives for the banking sector to regain its role in financing the economy.