On the job
June 7, 2017
Banking is such a constant in Lebanese existence that you can pretty much set your watch by its heartbeat. Of course this only looks effortless. In reality, there are a series of arduous and vital balancing acts in progress, primarily at the central bank and then one tier lower at the commercial banks. After all, the sector’s steady performance in the safe annual growth of assets and deposits is entwined with global realities of the most fragile political, monetary and economic sorts. This inconvenient and undeniable reality was underscored by the months-long hullabaloo over Banque du Liban (BDL) Governor Riad Salameh’s term extension, announced at the end of May.