“Everything else being equal, I don’t foresee better economic conditions than the ones prevailing in Lebanon. If we can sustain the current levels it’s a positive thing. We need to see transformational changes in the region.”
“We are in Syria for the long term. We see in the medium-to-long term a lot of potential. We expect like everyone else that events will still be very bad and we have no expectations for things to improve in the short term. It will take several years probably before things improve.”
“Regarding the Financial Markets Authority, of course we need better rules and regulation to avoid further stock manipulation but at the end of the day, we need more companies to list on the exchange.”
“I think the government should not be interfering with wages across the board but only ensure the minimum wage rate. For them to be involved in my or your salary is none of their business. At end of the day, businesses will pay what they feel is the market price for X, Y, Z because if you are not paying it [people] will move somewhere else.”
“The biggest challenge this year was the external environment. It was not forecast. The geopolitics of Lebanon this year was worse than we expected. I think despite that we are very positive about the resilience of the economy because history has shown that the banking sector is very resilient.”
“The banks are in a Maronite marriage with the government in terms of financing [the public sector]. Banks have to refrain from being open to new increases in treasury bills. They are happy to continue supporting the government with the current level of debt and refinancing maturing Eurobonds but not to [increase their exposure] significantly.”
“It’s a love-hate relationship with the private sector for two reasons: it is a small sector with competitive pricing and it [requires] a very time-intensive service. For instance, you service [the chief executive] of a small [or] medium enterprise for $15,000 and you have to see him every couple of days to service him. It’s not like putting that amount in a T-bill and getting the interest once a year from the central bank. This has to do with your readiness to service the private sector. Doing it and saying it are two different things.”
“We are paying very high indirect taxes. The war has been over for more than 20 years now and we still don’t have proper electricity. It’s the biggest bill we are paying. Companies are paying a hell of a lot of money. This is murder; it is a crime for the country. With all our pride of being innovative etcetera, and we can’t solve electricity. It’s a disaster.”
