Hariri said that Lebanon can be turned to a regional financial hub but this “requires much more foreign and domestic direct investments.”  “Through developing our capital markets we can attract fresh investments to the country,” he said.

The Prime Minister was speaking at a workshop in the Grand Serail to discuss findings of a recent study on capital markets in Lebanon completed by ARCHE.

The Minister of Finance, Raya El Hassan that “the Beirut Stock Exchange (BSE) is still small in size compared to the size of the economy.” Total market capitalization of the Beirut Stock Exchange (BSE) has reached $13.6 billion until the end of June.

The Governor of the Central Bank Riad Salameh said that the Central Bank pays a close attention to modernizing capital markets, and the stock exchange because this, he said, could bring lots of advantages to the economy.

“This will give flexibility to the Central Bank in managing its operations, and could help companies obtain funding they need in a much easier way because they would be more transparent in disclosing their financial statements, “the Governor said.

Hariri said that the government has included a plan to modernize capital markets to the economic reform policy that it plans to undertake. “We are definite that all those policies can help stimulate new job opportunities from Akkar to Nabatiyeh,” Hariri said.