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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 foundatio"