BEIRUT, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese banks will remain strong in the face of all economic, social and political challenges, said Joseph Torbey, head of the Association of Banks in Lebanon, on Thursday.
"Lebanon's banking sector is immune to all internal and external challenges," Torbey was quoted as saying by the National News Agency (NNA) during a press conference held at the association's headquarters.
Torbey noted that the deposits in Lebanese banks grew by 2 percent in the first five months of 2018 to reach 3.4 billion U.S. dollars.
"The amount is enough to cover the financing need of the national economy in both the public and private sectors," he said.
He noted that Lebanese banks' assets grew by 5.7 percent in the first five months of 2018, while the capital of banks hit a record 20.7 billion dollars by the end of May 2018.
"This helps strengthen the confidence of local and foreign depositors in the Lebanese banking system," he said.
The banking official also said that commercial loans to the private sector reached 59.5 billion dollars by the end of May 2018.
The future Lebanese government will seek new mechanisms to reactivate housing loans, while banks are ready to do whatever necessary to ensure the success of the policy, he added.
Lebanon's Public Corporation for Housing (PCH) announced at the beginning of July that it would not accept applications for housing loans from July 9.
The Central Bank of Lebanon usually funds the housing loans through PCH and the Housing Bank. It provided commercial banks with a subsidy of 500 million dollars in February to help Lebanese buy apartments.
The fund, however, was drained within a month.
These banks are now offering housing loans with an interest rate of around 6 to 7 percent on loans in U.S. dollar compared with 3 percent for subsidized loans.
