A number of Lebanese lenders are following in the footsteps of their peers and opening new branches in Iraq to service a market where state-owned banks account for 86 percent of assets and 69 percent of credits.

BLOM, Lebanon’s second largest bank in terms of assets, will kick-start operations in Iraq this week with a branch in Irbil, Kurdistan, and another to open in Baghdad a few weeks later, BLOM Chairman Saad Azhari said at a Lebanese-Iraqi banking conference held over the weekend in Beirut.

Source: The Daily Star