Lebanese Central Bank to develop lending & trade finance platform

The Governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon, Mr. Riad Salameh, with the support of Prime Minister Hassan Diab,  published a circular which discusses a new initiative to build a sustainable solution for Lebanese manufacturers  who want to sell their products both locally as well as internationally. The Governor had previously announced that he would provide 100 million USD to fund the importation of raw material. The Fund is called the Oxygen Fund. 

The decision involves the implementation of a platform based out of Europe whose sole aim is to serve the Lebanese economy by offering short-term credit facilities for Lebanese importers and exporters in cooperation with local Lebanese banks as well as the Lebanese Manufacturing Association and Ministry of Manufacturing.

According to the circular, the Fintech platform based out of Europe, a lending and trade finance platform, fully complies to the socioeconomic interconnected governance model utilizing best international practices. It is a financial initiative that aims to raise 750 million dollars to assist small and medium sized manufacturers as well as develop a sustainable lending platform to purchase 3 billion dollars’ worth of raw material for manufacturing sector. Central Bank of Lebanon will be an anchor partner for this initiative in addition to international investors, manufacturers, family offices as well as financial lending institutions, and alternative digital fund managers