E What is the main reason you believe that Lebanon’s banks have weathered the worst effects of the global financial crisis? The year 2008 confirmed to us that what characterizes the Lebanese economy is its resilience to the aftermath of the global crisis that affected many wealthy and strong countries. In my opinion, the main reason behind such resilience lies in the strength and breadth of the Lebanese diaspora, which derives an annual value added almost as large as the entire Lebanese GDP. This translates into sizable incoming foreign remittances that reached around $5.6 billion last year, and which have been instrumental in equilibrating the country’s balance of payments, hence contributing to reviving the economic cycle and to supporting the domestic currency. E Even so, hasn’t the financial crisis affected Lebanese banks to some extent? The Lebanese banking sector has long proved its resistance in the face of the various
