Tough sell

Recent data suggests that commercial banks and financial institutions in Lebanon are increasingly shying away from corporate lending. In fact, most major banks remain wary of the Lebanese corporate environment, as they still attempt to mend their existing portfolios of corporate debt, to the extent of actually reducing the size of their portfolio of commercial loans. BLOM Bank, Banque Audi, and Banque Saradar saw their portfolios of commercial loans shrink anywhere between 1% and 8% over the past year. Typically, and perhaps oddly, the bulk of non-performing loans held by most banks fall into the corporate lending category, as opposed to retail lending to consumers. Corporate banking – including corporate loans and financial assistance – thrived in the mid 1990s as the economy was perceived to accelerate its post-war recovery with a GDP growth of 8.8% per year. Banks were typically more eager to help finance business ventures in Lebanon,