On the occasion of the joint annual meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, which were held in Washington during the past week, a delegation of the Association of Banks in Lebanon, headed by Dr. Francois Bassil and comprising Mr. Saad Azhari, Dr. Joseph Torbey, Mr. Mohamed Ali Beyhum, Mr. Nadim Kassar, Mr. Walid Raphael, Mr. Chahdan Jbeily, HE Sami Haddad, and the Secretary General Dr. Makram Sader, visited a number of U.S. administration officials involved in the financial and banking affairs in the Departments of State and Treasury and members in the Finance, Budget and External Affairs Committees in the U.S. Congress.

The discussion focused during these meetings on the soundness of the banking business in Lebanon and its commitment to international banking standards and sanctions issued by several international and regional bodies, particularly the United Nations, the United States, and the European Union, in order to maintain the position of Lebanese banks in the global financial markets. The focus was also on the importance of correspondent relationships with U.S. banks, due to the need of the dollarized Lebanese economy to process international clearing operations through the New York banking market. In this context, the delegation stressed the continued commitment of the Lebanese banks to rules and working conditions of these correspondent banks.

The Representatives of the world's major banks, whom the delegation met, expressed their wishes in rapidly settling the government formation crisis in Lebanon, in order to dispel fears that this disagreement can affect negatively the economic and financial situation and, consequently, the assessment of the Lebanese sovereign risk.

In sum, the Lebanese banking delegation returned from Washington satisfied given the fact that the professional visit was successful and positive, and that can contribute to the strengthening of Lebanese banks’ status in the global financial system.