The monetary sector is stuck

One wonders about the timely synchronized hostile attitudes toward the Lebanese banking sector exhibited by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the Israeli pressure group in Washington, and some prominent political parties at home. External pressures are fathomable to most analysts, because undermining monetary stability could lead to the downfall of both Lebanon and Hezbollah, in the eyes of this pressure group. But there is no sound reasoning for the attack that some Lebanese parties are waging on the banks, aside from the possibility of their need for cash to compensate for the decline in their foreign political funding.

UPHOLDING INTERNATIONAL TIES

The external pressures are being addressed by the Association of Banks (ABL), which has been deploying intensive, systematic, and costly endeavors to achieve this goal through talks with Congress and the US administration, as well as with correspondent banks in New York and in other financial capitals (London, Paris, Frankfurt, etc.) The latest of these efforts was the recent visit by ABL’s board delegation to the United States last month. This visit has been very successful in strengthening our relations