In 1943, Lebanon gained its formal political independence from France; only after two more decades did the country finally establish a national central bank. Inaugurated on April 1, 1964, the Banque du Liban (BDL) was billed by Lebanese authorities as the nation's primary symbol of economic sovereignty and as the last step towards full independence. In the local press, it was described as a means of projecting state power and enhancing national pride. Yet the history of its founding-stretching from its Ottoman origins in mid-nineteenth century up until the mid-twentieth-tells a different, more complex story.
Banking on the State reveals how the financial foundations of Lebanon were shaped by the history of the standardization of economic practices and financial regimes within the decolonizing world. The system of central banking that emerged was the product of a complex interaction of war, economic policies, international financial regimes, post-colonial state-building, global currents of technocratic knowledge, and private business interests. It served rather than challenged the interests of an oligarchy of local bankers. As Hicham Safieddine shows, the set of arrangements that governed the central bank thus was dictated by dynamics of political power and financial profit more than market forces, national interest or economic sovereignty.
| ISBN: | 9781503605497 |
| Publication date: | 2nd July 2019 |
| Author: | Hicham Safieddine |
| Publisher: | Stanford University Press |
| Format: | Hardback |
| Pagination: | 272 pages |
| Series: | Stanford Studies in Middle Eastern and Islamic Societies and Cultures |
| Genres: |
Economic history General and world history Middle Eastern history |
In 1943, Lebanon gained its formal political independence from France; only after two more decades did the country finally establish a national central bank. Inaugurated on April 1, 1964, the Banque du Liban (BDL) was billed by Lebanese authorities as the nation's primary symbol of economic sovereignty and as the last step towards full independence. In the local press, it was described as a means of projecting state power and enhancing national pride. Yet the history of its founding-stretching from its Ottoman origins in mid-nineteenth century up until the mid-twentieth-tells a different, more complex story.
Banking on the State reveals how the financial foundations of Lebanon were shaped by the history of the standardization of economic practices and financial regimes within the decolonizing world. The system of central banking that emerged was the product of a complex interaction of war, economic policies, international financial regimes, post-colonial state-building, global currents of technocratic knowledge, and private business interests. It served rather than challenged the interests of an oligarchy of local bankers. As Hicham Safieddine shows, the set of arrangements that governed the central bank thus was dictated by dynamics of political power and financial profit more than market forces, national interest or economic sovereignty.
Banking on the State features in the following genres: Economic history, General and world history, Middle Eastern history
Banking on the State is available in Hardback, Paperback
Banking on the State was written by Hicham Safieddine and published by Stanford University Press
Banking on the State has 272 pages
Yes it is part of Stanford Studies in Middle Eastern and Islamic Societies and Cultures series