Lebanon 2019 bank deposits seen growing a `conservative’ $7-$8 bln-banker

BEIRUT, Feb 27 (Reuters) – Lebanon’s domestic bank deposits are forecast to grow by a “conservative” $7 billion to $8 billion in 2019 compared with $5.6 billion in 2018, a senior Lebanese banker said on Wednesday.

Freddie Baz, a top executive at Bank Audi, said sentiment had improved in Lebanon since Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri formed a new national unity government in January, saying this “by itself triggers increased inflows”.

“So we assumed a conservative $8 billion increase in the deposit base is reasonable (for 2019) – around $7 billion to $8 billion,” Baz told Reuters.

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