Banking on the State: The Financial Foundations of Lebanon

by Hicham Safieddine

In 1943, Lebanon gained its formal political independence from France; only after two more decades did the country finally establish a national central bank. Inaugurated on April 1, 1964, the Banque du Liban (BDL) was billed by Lebanese authorities as the nation's primary symbol of economic sovereignty and as the last step towards full independence. In the local press, it was described as a means of projecting state power and enhancing national pride. Yet the history of its founding―stretching from its Ottoman origins in mid-nineteenth century up until the mid-twentieth―tells a different, more complex story. Banking on the State reveals how the financial foundations of Lebanon were shaped by the history of the standardization of economic practices and financial regimes within the decolonizing world. The system of central banking that emerged was the product of a complex interaction of war, economic policies, international financial regimes, post-colonial state-building, global currents of technocratic knowledge, and private business interests. It served rather than challenged the interests of an oligarchy of local bankers. As Hicham Safieddine shows, the set of arrangements that governed the central bank thus was dictated by dynamics of political power and financial profit more than market forces, national interest or economic sovereignty.

Genres: Lebanon

272 pages, Paperback

Published July 2, 2019

Reviews

[سارَة خالد الحمّادي · Rating 5 out of 5]

الكتاب عبارة عن سرديّة تاريخية /سياسية/اقتصادية مالية، لم يقتصر الحديث عما عُنون به فقط وإن كان هو الحدث الرئيسي المعني إلا إنه فيه تفصيل أشوفه شيّق يجسد طبيعة العلاقات الدولية ووضعهم التاريخي بارتباط السياسات المالية-النقدية إرتباط وثيق مع وضع السياسة بين البلدان، وشيء من المدارس الاقتصادية اللبنانيّة
أي متخصص بالماليّة والاقتصاد يعنيه هذا الكتاب ويُثريه
فتطرّق لأساليب ومواضيع في صلب التخصص رحت استزدت عنها من خلالها بدراسات علمية منشورة تتحدث عنها بإسهاب
والطريف في توقيت إنهائي للكتاب أنه كان في 31/7/2023 أي بعد تداول خبر استقالة رياض سلامة كحاكم لمصرف لبنان بعد ثلاثين عام وانتهى به الأمر كما انتهى ببيدس مع إنترا
مُطارد دوليًا للقبض عليه
لغة الكتاب ماتعة وتسلسله أيضًا كان مشوقًا أكثر مما هو قراءة أكاديمية رصينة مملة

[Mano Chil · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book to read in order to understand the financial foundations of Lebanon and the creation of Lebanon's central bank, but it was very concise to my taste.

[Faisal Jamal · Rating 4 out of 5]

سرد تاريخي اقتصادي لقصة دولة المصارف في لبنان

[Fawzi Halimi · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit tough to read at times, but provides a solid overview of the how the banking system in Lebanon laid the foundation for the current crisis