LEBANON: OPIC/CITI EXTEND ADDITIONAL LOAN FACILITY TO

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIRUT 000779

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

STATE FOR NEA/ELA AND EEB/IFD/ODF
STATE PASS USTR FRANCESCKI
STATE PASS USAID LAUDATO/NANDY/SCOTT
TREASURY FOR PARODI/BLEIWEISS/AHERN
USDOC FOR 4520/ITA/MAC/ONE
NSC FOR SHAPIRO/MCDERMOTT

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON EFIN EIND ENRG PGOV LE
SUBJECT: LEBANON: OPIC/CITI EXTEND ADDITIONAL LOAN FACILITY TO
BYBLOS BANK (ECONOMIC WEEK IN REVIEW, JULY 6 - 12, 2009)

CONTENTS
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-- OPIC/CITI EXTEND ADDITIONAL LOAN FACILITY TO BYBLOS BANK
-- CENTRAL BANK FOREIGN CURRENCY ASSETS REACH RECORD HIGH
-- MEGAPORTS PROJECT MOVING FORWARD
-- CAPITAL INTELLIGENCE RAISES SOVERIGN AND BANK RATINGS
-- LEBANON RANKS LOW ON WORLD BANK GOVERNANCE INDICATOR SURVEY


OPIC/CITI EXTEND ADDITIONAL
LOAN FACILITY TO BYBLOS BANK
--------------


1. (SBU) On July 10, Citi Country Officer for Lebanon Walter Siouffi
told us that the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) and
Citi signed a $40 million 15-year term loan facility for Byblos Bank
(one of Lebanon's top three commercial banks) this week. This
amount will be used for lending to small and medium-sized
enterprises (SMEs),for mortgages, and for consumer finance in
Lebanon, Armenia and Iraq, where Byblos Bank has a presence, Siouffi
said. This is the second time that Byblos has benefited from
Citi/OPIC loan facilities as it received $50 million in April 2007.
With this new agreement, Citi and OPIC have extended $260 million in
term loan facilities (for up to 15 years) to selected commercial
banks in Lebanon since January 2007.

CENTRAL BANK FOREIGN CURRENCY
ASSETS REACH RECORD HIGH
--------------


2. (U) The Central Bank of Lebanon's (CBL) foreign currency assets
increased by 19% in the first half of 2009 reaching a record high of
$23.5 billion. Meanwhile, CBL gold reserves also increased by 7.8%
in the same period, due to the rise in international gold prices,
reaching $8.66 billion. (Note: Lebanon holds 9.22 million ounces
of gold. End note.)

MEGAPORTS PROJECT
MOVING FORWARD
--------------


3. (SBU) A delegation from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
visited Beirut July 7-8 to follow-up on the Megaports project at the
Port of Beirut. The delegation met with GOL officials from Customs
and the Port Authority, as well as the Chairman of the private
operator of the container terminal, to discuss next steps in
implementation of the project, including an engineering survey
scheduled for mid-September. The delegation also met with the PM's
advisors and EU officials to discuss training and future
cooperation, as the EU is involved with the GOL's land border
control project. The Megaports project is expected to become
operational in March 2010.

CAPITAL INTELLIGENCE RAISES
SOVERIGN AND BANK RATINGS
--------------


4. (U) Credit rating agency Capital Intelligence (CI) raised
Lebanon's long-term foreign and local currency ratings to B from B-
and maintained its outlook at stable. The agency attributed the
upgrade to a decline in near-term financing risks and a decrease in
political risk following the June parliamentary elections. However,
it noted that sovereign ratings remained constrained by weak public
finances and political risk factors. CI also raised its long-term
foreign currency ratings of six major commercial banks in Lebanon.



LEBANON RANKS LOW ON WORLD BANK
GOVERNANCE INDICATOR SURVEY
--------------


5. (U) The World Bank's (WB) annual World Governance Indicators for
2008 ranked Lebanon 146 out of 212 countries worldwide and 13 out of
20 MENA countries, on six governance indicators. Compared to the
MENA region, Lebanon's rank remained unchanged on government
effectiveness, political stability, voice and accountability, and

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rule of law, while it regressed by one spot in regulatory quality
and control of corruption. Lebanon regressed significantly
worldwide on the control of corruption indicator, falling by 17
spots.

SISON