No President? No Problem. Lebanon’s Banks Immune to Crisis

No president for more than a year, a dysfunctional parliament, 1.2 million refugees from a vicious war next door in Syria, yet bankers in Lebanon like Freddie Baz are unfazed.

With at least three times as many Lebanese living abroad than in Lebanon, deposits have kept flowing in. Banks use the money to buy government debt exceeding 140 percent of economic output, making it one of the world’s highest ratios along with Japan and Greece.