Salamé’s stability strategy underpins Lebanon’s hopes

Through crisis after crisis, Riad Salamé has managed Lebanon’s finances. A new government with big plans will benefit from his prudent policies and his continued firm hand on the tiller. But even the veteran central bank governor is excited by what’s happening in his country. Clive Horwood reports from Beirut.

The veteran Lebanese central bank governor, Riad Salamé

The veteran Lebanese central bank governor, Riad Salamé

ON THE RECLAIMED waterfront at the end of Beirut’s famous Corniche, with views stretching far across the Mediterranean, two gleaming new steel-and-glass towers now dominate the skyline. One of them houses a Four Seasons hotel, the epitome of luxury for the discerning international traveller. For those familiar with Lebanon’s troubled recent history, such a development seems both extraordinary and uplifting. International interest has returned to Lebanon in real substance, especially among the large and wealthy Lebanese diaspora and from rich investors based in the GCC.

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