Lebanon in the eye of the storm

There is no doubt that the sheer scale and global consequences of the financial crisis are staggering. The financial meltdown translated into a deep economic recession that reached the US, Europe and parts of Asia. All over the world, financial systems are being re- examined not only to define acceptable levels of capital and leverage, but also to introduce necessary financial regulations. Authorities in advanced countries are trying to speed up the process of improving transparency, developing a higher degree of corporate governance and creating new clearing and monitoring institutions. While governments and central banks all over the world are taking every possible measure to stimulate the economy, their efforts are being hampered by three main factors. First, companies, banks and financial institutions are engaged in a deleveraging process that is squeezing the credit market even more and deepening economic recession, thus dumping the impact of concerted and non-concerted interest