Lebanon’s Private Sector’s Loans Exceed Public Ones

Vice Governor of Central Bank of Lebanon, Saad Andari said loans to the private sector exceeded the credit line given to public departments for the first time since 2008 as the number of borrowers jumped to 564,000.

“We have high liquidity, enabling us to unfreeze some of the Central Bank reserves to boost the economy,” Andari added.

“This has allowed the Central Bank to embark on various initiatives to stimulate lending and investments by the private sector.”

Andari voiced support for the mandatory cash reserves required by the Central Bank, despite the limits the policy puts on private banks’ ability to lend.

He also criticized the role of central banks of the G-20 biggest economies.

“These central banks used to let the markets regulate without significant intervention and the result was financial crises that started in 2007,” he said, according to The Daily Star.