The Association of Banks in Lebanon organized, on November 12th , at the Phoenicia hotel, a lunch attended by ABL Board of Directors in the presence of the Governor of the Banque du Liban Riad Salameh and the vice-governors, the President and members of the Banking Control Commission, and a large number of senior bank executives and the media.
Before lunch, the President of the Association Dr. François Bassil delivered a speech where he drew the guidelines to follow in order to ease tensions with the current political and economic crises in the country, emphasizing "the need, even the urgency to form a new government, for various reasons, mainly;
1) The effective treatment of the Syrians displaced problem, in particular the follow-up of the implementation of the decisions of the meeting held in New York to ensure the amounts promised to Lebanon.
2) The management of the "Energy" dossier away from tense and subjective discussions.
3) To correct and enable the performance of government and public services that is closely related to the daily lives of the citizens.
4) To address the issue of boycotting the Gulf to Lebanon, especially as this is reflected negatively on tourism, capital transfers and investment, which lead consequently to a decline in growth".
Bassil considered that "if the government formation does not take place in the near future, it is imperative that the economic bodies, the professional organizations, the trade unions and the organizations of civil society are to take radical positions towards the politicians’ careless management of national affairs and aspirations of citizens and their needs".
On the other hand, he mentioned in his speech the banking situation in general, noting that "despite the deteriorating situation of the public institutions, the Association of Banks remain keen to work with the Banque du Liban (BDL), the Banking Control Commission, to strengthen the banking sector and firmly consolidate the elements of its resilience. The time wasted regarding the country’s management will not prevent us to continue consolidating our surveillance and control, strengthening of capitalization, enhancing our human resources and improving the development of our internal systems".
Bassil added: "We will continue to develop our procedures and internal systems as part of our combat of money laundering and financing of terrorism in accordance with our adopted strategy for years. The appointment of His Excellency Mr. Elias Murr as head of Interpol gives us naturally a supplement of incentive at this level. We congratulate His Excellency for this appointment which honors Lebanon, we can only express our perfect readiness as banks, to cooperate with His Excellency seriously and effectively in the fight against organized crime, particularly financial ones.
At the end of his speech, Dr. Bassil commemorated the twentieth anniversary of the appointment of Mr. Riad Salameh: "In August 1993, twenty years ago, Mr. Riad Salameh was appointed Governor of the Banque du Liban. Throughout this period, Lebanon and the countries of the region and around the world have experienced serious events that have left their mark on monetary, financial and economic situations. However, Lebanon, despite the wars, the internal turmoil at political and security levels, and the serious economic difficulties, was able to maintain the stability of the national currency, and to make great strides towards a restructuring of its banking and financial system, and to counter with a remarkable resilience to strong regional and global crises, in particular the recent global financial crisis that erupted in 2008 and whose multiple effects persist to this day.
There is no doubt that any objective history writing on Lebanon during the past two decades, will devote you, Mr. Governor, many shining pages, full of achievements and pioneering initiatives in banking and finance. Your person is rare and has served the country, and continues to serve with fidelity and merit, in exceptional times with extreme difficulties and complexity, and the Lebanese people owe you gratitude and appreciation".
Bassil then addressed the Governor and said: "I would like to seize this family reunion occasion, and the twentieth anniversary of your functions, to express again our sincere gratitude and thanks with all due respect to your person and your contribution, and to reiterate the readiness of the Association and banks, as it has always been the case, to continue constructive cooperation, close and fruitful coordination with your Excellency and members of the BDL’s Central Board, with the President and members of the Banking Control Commission, to the benefit of the financial and banking sector and the good of Lebanon and all Lebanese".
Governor Salameh then extinguished the candle symbol of the two decades, and received two symbolic gifts from the Board of Directors of ABL, offered by the President Dr. François Bassil and the Vice-President Mr. Saad Azhari.
After that, the Governor Riad Salameh said: "I thank the Lebanese banking sector for this meeting, which reminded me of 20 years of collaborative work. If the banking sector still rewards me after all these years, then this is a good sign of the rightness of the Banque du Liban basic guidelines".
He then confirmed "the commitment to the stability of the exchange rate of the Lebanese pound", adding that "the existing means are available along with the stability of interest rates", and stated that "Dr. Bassil has clearly expressed in his speech the course of action to follow".
He added: "There will be no market state of change at both levels of interest or that of the strength of the monetary situation and the security of the banking sector, and we encourage this state especially that we, at the Banque du Liban, estimate an economic growth of about 2.25%, knowing that there are other estimations in this regard. If we want this growth to persist, we need to keep stable interest rates especially as interest on housing loans and consumption are related to yields on Treasury Bills. It is therefore necessary to maintain the stability of the interest rates because higher rates are harmful at a social level".
The Governor reiterated his commitment "to the collaboration and the cooperation in all fields with the Association of Banks in Lebanon, particularly in the launching of "the economy of knowledge" which could contribute to job creation to the youngest, ensure an optimistic future for generations to come, and improve the competitiveness of Lebanon".