News of decline of remittances and transfers provoke bankers

The recent figures released by the “Union of Arab Banks” and the “Institute of International Finance” which have shown a decline in the rate of remittances into the country during the past two years and which were confirmed by the Bank of Lebanon governor (for the first half of the present fiscal year) (full news: http://bit.ly/2aOLpm4), have put on alert the local banking sector. In this respect, and after Marwan Barakat from Bank Audi, refused to comment for lack of precision in numbers, the head of the financial and economic research department at Bank Byblos, Nassib Ghobril, underlined in a statement that the crucial capital for the banking industry is the trust of its investors, depositors and Lebanese emigrants. He maintained that the rigorous figures issued by the Central Bank, and which represent the only official records, have revealed an increase in the remittances of migrant Lebanese in 2015, (by 4%) reaching USD 7 billion and 500 million. The figure, Ghobril explained, is relatively high, equivalent to 15% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and in fact one of the highest globally, close to USD 1600 for every Lebanese resident. Ghobril made clear that “the Bank of Lebanon  has not yet posted the data for the size of transferals in 2016, noting that these figures could stay constant on the 2015 rate or shift up or down.” On the other hand, he explained, “should remittances fall during 2016, by 10% on average, let’s say, there remains around USD 6 billion and 750 million, which still is considered high and able to invigorate domestic consumption.” Ghobril also referred to the upsurge in the size of bank deposits to nearly USD 154 billion. (Al Mustaqbal, Al Diyar, July 28, 2016)