On Thursday, El Hassan submitted the 2010 state draft budget to the cabinet. The proposal suggests increasing expenditures on new investment projects in the telecom, road development, power, and water projects  which the government plans to finance with the help of the private sector.

The President of ABL, Jospeh Torbey said that banks are interested in partnering with the government to finance new infrastructure projects which will improve living conditions of the Lebanese . “ABL has established a committee to prepare a draft law on the issue which will be studied by the legal committee,” he said.

He said that banks will help “the government in obtaining long term funding from international partners” and for this reason “financing terms should meet international standards,” he said.

Torbey said that this does not mean that banks will not channel part of the liquidity surplus to fund projects. However, he explained that the  high liquidity of the banking sector comes from short term resources. "The government is looking for long financing patterns and not short term ones.”

Torbey said that the meeting is one of a series of meetings that will be held between both parts to discuss the government’s plans to develop the infrastructure which will help increase the size of the economy and create new job opportunities and  revive the economy.