In his speech, President Torbey was confident for the near future, especially after the formation of the new government. He also said that the Lebanese economy could register a high growth rate in 2011 in the wake of historic levels registered in recent years, if the political climate was not as deteriorated from the last quarter of last year.
"These growth rates could not be achieved without political stability and security experienced by the country of the Cedar in May 2008 and resilience of the banking sector against the global financial crisis," he said. Mr. Torbey has stressed the vitality of political stability, without which the tourism and capital transfers - two major sources of revenue for the Lebanese economy - are widely affected. "Growth in the Gulf is also a key factor in Lebanon since the economies of these countries is closely linked to the Lebanese economy," he said.
ABL President, in parallel, called for a start-up of infrastructural reforms, whose implementation has been going on for several years, and which concern the telecom, energy, water and road infrastructure. "Many pro-growth measures must be taken: the privatization of several ports, the adoption of legislation on partnership between public and private sectors (PPP) and the development of new strategies to boost agricultural and industrial sectors",he said.
Growth in business borrowing
President Torbey also stressed the positive influence of the banking sector in achieving such growth in recent years, attributing it in part to the significant increase in the number of credits on the market. "The total value of loans granted by commercial banks reached $ 64 billion in late 2010, of which 46% was allocated to public sector and 54% in the private sector," he said.
He also said that the proliferation of lending was made possible by the excess liquidity available to the banks as a result of the global financial crisis and circulars of the Bank of Lebanon (BDL) to incite borrowing.
Dr. Torbey also welcomed the role played by banks in maintaining the balance of public finances, through their subscriptions to treasury bills.
However, he lamented the slow development of financial markets as the stock market (equity, in English) and the domestic debt market (Sovereign and corporate bonds, in English). "A healthy economy is financed together by banks and financial markets, hence the need to develop equity markets in Lebanon. We are currently working on modernizing the regulation on the management of financial markets, so that they comply with international rules. We hope that the law in these markets will be voted in the first session of Parliament, "he said in this regard.
Dr. Torbey finally recalled the key role played by the Association of Banks in Lebanon, ensuring a dialogue between the bank management, particularly through the 11 committees that bring together nearly 150 members and studying several positions on projects that affect organizational sector.