June 11 saw €121 million ($164.7 million) of European Investment Bank (EIB) financing extended to the Lebanese private sector in four transactions. Two of these came via loans worth €45 million ($61.3 million) apiece to Byblos Bank and Fransabank. The other two were equity investments, one of €11 million ($15 million) in First National Bank and the other €20 million ($27.2 million) in regional private equity fund EuroMena III. “It seemed important to us in this difficult period to show that the Lebanese financial sector and the Lebanese economy represent a good investment opportunity,” says Philippe de Fontaine Vive, the vice president of the EIB. The loans to the local banks are to be channeled into the economy at a multiplier effect of two to support lending to SMEs, according to de Fontaine Vive. “We request the bank to lend double of what we are lending to the bank. So
