Biggest Lebanese banks by shareholders' equity ($m) | ||
1997 | 1996 | |
Banque de la Méditerranée | 316 | 248 |
Byblos Bank | 243 | 88 |
Banque Audi | 220 | 112 |
Banque du Liban et d'Outre-Mer | 191 | 154 |
Banque Libano-Française | 132 | 91 |
Fransabank | 122 | 83 |
Banque Libanaise pour le Commerce | 83 | 74 |
Crédit Libanais | 74 | 61 |
Société Générale Libano-Européenne de Banque | 70 | 54 |
Bank of Beirut and the Arab Countries | 57 | 44 |
Beirut Riyad Bank | 46 | 24 |
Source: based on Central Bank figures |
Since the end of the country's civil war in 1990, Lebanon's banks have staged a remarkable recovery. Assets have quadrupled from $7 billion to more than $36 billion (nearly twice the country's gross domestic product) thanks to money coming in from the Lebanese diaspora. Meanwhile, tight supervision by the Central Bank and a cautious approach to lending have strengthened balance sheets and boosted average capital-adequacy ratios to 20%.