INTRA Bank

Once again, the last words uttered by INTRA's CEO were still reverberating in the ear and through every corner of the Lebanon domestic democracy. "I am not a thief." [...] "Certain circles united with international intelligence conspired against me. That is a historical fact."The press many times named INTRA's rapid growth "a fascinating bank in the Arab World," and its Chairman, Yousef Beidas, "the most controversial man in Lebanon, as prominent as Aristotle Onassis." Beidas had probably thought of himself and his family like the Rothschild dynasty that financed establishing a Jewish home in Palestine, floating loans without charge. INTRA wealth wished to playback the scene and returned the Palestinian refugees home by obtaining the money on much more favorable terms.Parallel to Beidas' undeclared aim, treasure hunters and oil men made millions of USD from INTRA and Beidas' investment talents in Lebanon, the country of Francophone inclinations from mouth to toe. In a closed circle, INTRA's chief - Yousef Beidas - used to recount mainly for neutrals in such a way as to show the disharmony behind the Lebanese political fa?ade and the inherent weakness of domestic democracy. Politics never left Finance alone; Local and foreign forces were at work until INTRA fell, and France met so-called civil unrest. The news reached Yousef Beidas in his hideout in Lucerne - Switzerland - and he kept moving his head up and down - yoyo - He uttered two words: 'd?j? vu, ' which said a lot.These developments in France were bound to stimulate agitation in Lebanon, notably among the Palestinians. France's rivals chitchat too much, 'gloat in public over its envious embarrassment, and think that de-Gaulle is such a fool that he expects to pull his nuts out of the American fire to regain France's prestige with the Arabs.' Financially speaking, INTRA could have been his vehicle.With INTRA's motto of 'economic nationalism, ' Lebanon would have gathered much Arab wealth. And the country stayed Francophone and such a most strange situation which touched the nation in its marrow.The situation might be summed up by a simple sentence 'INTRA's rivals gloat over its demise as a prospect of merciless revenge.' Although Lebanon's balance of trade [USD denominated as a base currency] was always negative, its balance of payment exceeded the shortfall between imports and exports. As the oil countries grew more sophisticated in their monetary ideas, they had a shadow of coherence in their international transactions. More and more banks - Anglophone - opened branches on the oil fields. [there were 17 different banks in Abu Dhabi alone] from where they maintain direct contacts with the World's money centers, gradually, no longer using Beirut as a staging post. That was not the case when INTRA had been in full strength as Lebanon earned over 50 percent of its national income from banking and similar services. What happened is also primarily Lebanon's fault. Lebanon only established a Central Bank in 1964, which exercised no more than remote control over its foreign banks. "The rules must be tightened if Beirut transforms from being a boomtown to a stable financial center, even if this means losing some of the present system's flexibility."A theme of equal importance to Lebanon's propaganda than other Arab countries was Lebanese social life's disequilibrium. In propaganda to Lebanon, a long-term survey showed an ever-growing concentration upon Lebanon's social weakness. The underlying theme was almost invariably "The rich take profit while the poor bear the sacrifices." Hence, the conclusion was that the recent lush was artificial and demonstrated the fundamental weakness in which sacrifices were demanded from the poor alone.