Senior speakers at the second forum of economic medias held at Beirut yesterday, which focused on the impact of journalism on the business and banking sector, included head of the Economic Committees HE Mr. Adnan Kassar, President of the Association of Banks in Lebanon Dr. Francois Bassil, head of the World Union  of Arab  Bankers Dr. Joseph Torbey and caretaker Information Minister Mr. Walid Daouk.

Total deposits at Lebanese banks grew 5 percent in the first half of the year, said the president of the Association of Banks in Lebanon Dr. Francois Bassil. Lending to resident and non-residents increased 3.2 percent in spite of deteriorating economic conditions in Lebanon and the region. Lending to the public sector increased 5.3 percent in the first half of the year, totaling $32.8 billion. Assets, Bassil added, grew by more than 4 percent to almost $158 billion. The Capital Adequacy Ratio reached 11.62 percent in the first half of the year. While down from the 11.76 percent recorded earlier this year, it is still higher than Basel III's  8 percent requirements.

«While the whole world is focusing on political events in the region, The economy in general and the banking sector in particular remain the countries’ lifebuoy, the hope of a sustainable development, and the medias have an important role to play», said HE Mr. Adnan Kassar.

« For that purpose, we advocate and encourage transparent and objective journalism, with constructive critics », said Dr. Joseph Torbey and added   « journalism where the opinion and the facts are clearly defined. But such a result requires at first free access to the facts and figures that journalists in the Arabic world have difficulties to obtain ».