Antoine Chamoun General manager, Bank of Beirut Invest The market is not greatly affected by politics, elections and all the events [relating to security]. Of course if the political situation is bad, some buyers or investors hesitate. But people are used to the fact that things get resolved in Lebanon. So the major effect is not politics, it is liquidity, the conditions of the loans, the interest rate, facilities, scheduling and rescheduling of loans for long periods. All of these affect the market. The proof is that since the financial crisis began, there were times when we didn’t have a president but the inflow of money to Lebanon was higher than any other period. This is because investing in land is much better than having money or gold. This is what drives Lebanese to buy a piece of land or a real estate property in their country when it is available.
