Banks included in Bankdata’s classification for alpha and beta banks with deposits respectively exceeding $2 billion and $0.5 billion are regarded by many international analysts and local banking industry observers to represent the top tiers within the Lebanese banking sector of 59 banks, comprised of 46 commercial banks and their 13 subsidiaries. Together, the 16 alpha and 11 beta banks are the dominant banking players in the domestic market and are the only two banking groups with foreign presence. Alpha and beta banks, according to Bankdata’s analysis, also represent 96 percent of loans issued by the banking sector over the past five years. In this period, they injected $10.8 billion into the economy as they grew their loan book from $60 billion in December 2013 to $70 billion at the end of 2018. Analyzing the provision of loans by these banks within the five-year period under consideration, the highest growth
