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AwardsJanuary 5 2009

Central Banker of the Year/ Middle East: Riad Salameh, Governor, Banque du Liban

While most of the world’s banks are suffering from the devastation caused by the global credit crunch, the 66 banks in Lebanon, a country heavily scarred by the 1975-90 civil war, high national debt, chronic budget deficits and wars with Israel, expect their aggregate balance sheet to grow by 12% in 2008 along with a 10% growth in profits.
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This in a year when the government did not function for the first five months, as rival political parties argued over the appointment of a new president – an impasse that prompted one international credit rating agency to cut the country’s sovereign rating to just a few notches above outright default.

How is it possible for such a banking sector to see such growth and maintain high liquidity in the system under such dire global and local conditions?

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