Outlook poor for Lebanese banks

The Daily Star

BEIRUT: Declining consumer and business confidence will negatively impact the profitability of Lebanese banks in the second half of 2013, industry officials say, due to modest growth in lending to the private sector and a contraction in the net loans portfolio of some major banks.

Loans to the private sector increased by 3.2 percent in 2013 to reach $44.8 billion at the end of the first half of the year, compared to a loan growth average of 9.5 percent in the last five years. The net loans portfolio of four out of five listed banks on the Beirut Stock Exchange posted a contraction.

Source: The Daily Star FULL STORY