“Will Banks in Lebanon Start Giving Loans to Citizens Again?”

When the Lebanese citizen needed to buy something, he would resort to banks that would give him a loan of a certain amount under certain conditions to facilitate his life and secure his requirements.
But nearly four years ago, banks stopped giving bank loans to citizens because of the crisis that everyone knows and is living its repercussions.
It seems that the Lebanese have begun to adapt to the current situation in the country and are now feeling that they are in dire need for banks to return to giving loans to facilitate their lives in all respects.

Will banks return to giving loans to citizens again?
In this context, economist and banker Nassib Ghobril stressed that “banks are the party that wants to lend the private sector the most, but the situation is still not conducive to starting this step.”

And he stressed that “if we want to look at the consolidated budget of the banking sector, we see that it has declined since the beginning of 2019 in the size of the credit portfolio to the private sector by 40 billion dollars, which means a decline of 67%, including loans in foreign currencies, which fell by 31 billion and 300 million dollars, which means a decrease.” 76%, this shows that individuals and companies repay their loans at 1,500, and companies that have taken loans repay them by “checks” at a very small percentage of the real value of the loans.

And Gabriel believed that “the banks have a barrier, if they want to lend as before, how will the money be returned in pounds or through checks, and this thing is harmful to the depositor and the banks.”

He pointed out that “in order for banks to lend, they need sufficient deposits, and today this thing is not available because of the crisis and because of the cessation of the flow of deposits and capital to Lebanon, especially after the decision of the last government, to default on the payment of “Eurobond” bonds in March 2020, which led to To the marginalization of Lebanon from the global financial, banking and commercial system.

And he added, “Today, in the face of the lack of a clear vision for the economic future of Lebanon, on what basis will banks lend to citizens?”

And he considered that “the circumstance is not appropriate for banks to return to lending, even for a small amount, although this is the basic task of banks, but it is idle because of the crisis and because of the officials’ neglect of reform.”

He continued, “The banks are eagerly awaiting the return of deposits to return and lend again, especially if they make sure that if they take this step, the loan holders will pay the sums with fresh.”