Political conflict at home pushes banks overseas

摘要

Faced with political instability following the Israeli-Hizbullah war, Lebanon's banks have expanded abroad in order to diversify their income sources. Major political crises usually have disastrous consequences for most economies. But some countries have the resilience to withstand extraordinary circumstances. In the past two years, Lebanon, still recovering from the devastation of the 1975-1991 civil war, was savaged by two new shocks, the assassination of prime minister Rafiq Hariri in early 2005 and the Israeli-Hizbullah war of July 2006.