Week 16, 17, 18, 19 Economic Reports - Lebanon

ECONOMY

p.2 Consolidated assets of commercial banks up by 3.5% over the first quarter of 2008

The Lebanese banking sector has witnessed, once again, a good quarter of flourishing activity. According to figures released by the Central Bank, the banks’ total assets moved from LP 123,999 billion at year-end 2007 to LP 128,343 billion at end-March 2008, i.e. exhibiting a healthy growth of 3.5%.



Also in this issue:

p.3 Balance of payments records a deficit of US$ 213.9 million in the first quarter of 2008

p.3 Consumer prices up by a yearly 3.2% in the first quarter of 2008



SURVEYS

p.4 Lebanon ranks 117th globally and 3rd in the MENA region in terms of press freedom in 2008

Freedom House's annual Freedom of the Press publication for 2008, which tracks trends in media freedom in 195 countries and territories, continued to rate Lebanon as ‘partly free’ for the second year in a row after upgrading its status from ‘not free’ in 2006.



Also in this issue:

p.4 IMF evaluates Lebanon’s performance under the EPCA program in 2007



CORPORATE NEWS

p.5 Bank of Beirut’s net profits up by 50.5% to US$ 13.5 million in the first quarter of 2008

Bank of Beirut announced consolidated net profits of US$ 13.5 million in the first quarter of 2008, up by 50.5% from US$ 9.0 million in the first quarter of 2007.



Also in this issue:

p.5 BLC’s net profits up by 50.9% to US$ 4.6 million in the first quarter of 2008

p.5 Solidere International to build AED 220 billion Al Zorah coastal city in the UAE

p.5 Four banks sign US$ 57 million credit agreements with ATFP

p.5 Aref Investment Group to invest US$ 1 billion in Lebanon



MARKETS IN BRIEF

p.6 Lebanese capital markets continue to operate on firm ground despite the deterioration of local security conditions

Lebanese capital markets continued to operate on solid territory despite the relapse of local security conditions this week. On the foreign exchange market, the offer trend of the US Dollar was halted this week and a modest demand for the green currency started to float on the surface. Meanwhile, the Central Bank announced that it will continue to provide its regular services through its branches spread over the country. It is worth noting that the Central Bank currently enjoys a high level of foreign assets, as the latter reached a record high level of US$ 13.94 billion at end-April 2008, and covered 79.7% of LP money supply. In parallel, the local currency liquidity remained abundant on the money market. As to the equity market, trading was restricted to three working days this week, and the price index declined slightly by 2.3% week-on-week to close at 163.44. The total trading value amounted to US$ 12 million during this three-day week versus US$ 33 million during the previous four-day week. The trading index dropped by 64% to reach 207.7.


tags: economic report, lebanon, beirut, lebanese, week 19, april 2008, bank audi, finance, weekly report

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