While some experts believe this year will not be different than the last for Lebanon’s banking sector, others are not so sure. Most agree, however, that conservative policies set by the Lebanese Central Bank allowed the banking sector to avoid any major effects from the global financial crisis. Prohibiting Lebanese banks from purchasing subprime products in the US, building up its foreign reserves to $13 billion (acting as a preventive measure to guarantee the Lebanese lira’s stability), ordering banks to have a minimum of 30 percent of their total assets in cash and setting rigid loan level ceilings for real estate projects, the central bank has played it cool by keeping assets safe and close to home. As of November 26, 2008 Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh announced that the combined assets of Lebanon’s banks totaled more than $100 billion — four times the country’s GDP. Bankers in Lebanon have
