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Article: Preparing for the worst: having boosted profits despite difficult circumstances, Beirut's banks are protecting their position by expanding overseas.(LEBANON)(Statistical data)
- Article from:
- MEED Middle East Economic Digest
- Article date:
- June 22, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 MEED Middle East Economic Digest. All Rights Reserved. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Lebanon's banking sector is proving as much of an icon of national resilience in difficult times as its traditional symbol, the cedar tree. The local financial sector took the assassination of former prime minister Rafiq Hariri in its stride in February 2005, with negligible capital flight. Similarly, the deposit outflow that followed the July-August 2006 conflict with Israeli forces was fully recovered by the end of the year.
Sector profitability remained on a robust trajectory in 2006, with banks' combined net income rising by 28.4 per cent to $669 million. Total customer deposits rose by 5.2 per cent to $65,000 million, about three times GDP.
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