Betting on Lebanon: The high stakes game of bonds, stocks, real estate, and bank rates

Lebanon is at a defining moment—a fragile economy teetering between recovery and collapse. “People are hopeful now, but the problem is, people are poor,” says Khalid Zeidan, founder and chairman/general manager at Capital EE, a regional financial advisory firm based in Beirut. “Five years of draining wealth, followed by war, have left individuals and businesses in survival mode,” he says. Lebanon was once a destination for financial opportunities and investments in the Middle East. On the one hand, it now finds itself in a state of confusion, where speculation runs rampant, markets remain volatile, and the fate of investment depends on urgent and decisive action. On the other hand, resolution of the country’s crisis presents a once-in-a-generation chance. “There is an important opportunity that we need to grasp,” says Marwan Barakat, chief economist at Bank Audi. “Lebanon is operating far below its full economic potential, but with recent political stability,