Fransabank marks its 90th year

Our financial system is well-equipped to deal with risks: Salameh

Fransabank Group held on Wednesday (February 22) an economic and finance conference to mark its 90 year anniversary.

The conference, titled ‘Knowledge’, featured renowned Lebanese and international speakers from the business and finance sectors.

Key speakers included Riad Salameh, the governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon, and Philippe de Fontaine Vive, vice president of the European Investment Bank, as well as prominent international business leaders. The conference, which covered the issue of ‘Performing in a Challenging World’, was moderated by Ramzi El Hafez, publisher and editor-in-chief of Lebanon Opportunities.

The Chairman of Fransabank Group, Adnan Kassar, said that Lebanon has proven itself to have a superb ability to adapt to changing conditions in difficult times despite regional political uncertainties and global economic challenges. Kassar valued the prudent policies of the Central Bank in maintaining a banking sector strong enough to back the country’s economy.

Salameh said that the country’s financial system is well-equipped to face any financial, political, or security-associated risk.

Salameh confirmed that Lebanon enjoys a sound financial situation strengthened by the appropriate monetary environment. “The conservative model that we adopted has borne fruit, as shown by the progress recorded in the balance sheet of the Central Bank and of Lebanese banks in general,” he said.

Salameh said that the Central Bank has constantly taken initiatives in order to maintain the stability of the Lebanese lira and preserve liquidity in the banking sector. As a result, he said, the inflation rate, though currently varying between five and six percent, was for many years maintained below four percent. Salameh said that the Central Bank aims to restore the four percent inflation rate again this year, despite the wage hike that is expected to raise inflation by three percent.