Saade Chami (; is a Lebanese economist, academic and politician who served as the

deputy prime minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a Minister (government), government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to th ...

in the cabinet led by

Najib Mikati Najib Azmi Mikati (born 24 November 1955) is a Lebanese politician and businessman who served as the 52nd prime minister of Lebanon from 2021 to 2025. He previously served in this post as the 48th and 45th prime minister from 2011 to 2014 and i ...

from 2021 to 2025.

Biography

Al Shami hails from a Lebanese Greek Orthodox family. From 1987 to 1993 Al Shami was the head of the graduate school of business at the

American University of Beirut The American University of Beirut (AUB; ) is a private, non-sectarian, and independent university chartered in New York with its main campus in Beirut, Lebanon. AUB is governed by a private, autonomous board of trustees and offers programs le ...

. He worked at the Lebanese premiership and the

finance ministry A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

as a head of the reform commission between 2005 and 2006. From 1993 to 2013 he worked at the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...

in different positions, including the assistant to the director of the Middle East and Central Asia department. Al Shami also served as the head of Capital Markets Authority in Lebanon between 2013 and 2017. In 2018 he began to work as the group chief economist at the

National Bank of Kuwait The National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) is a Kuwaiti multinational bank headquartered in Kuwait City and established in 1952. It is the largest financial institution in Kuwait. It operates 138 branches across 13 countries, seven of which are in the ...

. In the proposed cabinet by Saad Hariri in July 2021 Al Shami was named as the minister of economy, but the cabinet was not approved by the

Lebanese Parliament The Lebanese Parliament (, ) is the unicameral national parliament of the Lebanon, Republic of Lebanon. There are 128 members elected to a four-year term in Electoral district, multi-member constituencies, apportioned among Lebanon's divers ...

. He was appointed deputy prime minister in the

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

formed by Prime Minister Najib Mikati on 10 September 2021. In April 2022 Shami announced that the

Banque du Liban ''Banque du Liban'' (; English: Bank of Lebanon) is the central bank of Lebanon. It was established on August 1, 1963, and became fully operational on April 1, 1964. In 2023, Wassim Mansouri stepped up as interim governor of the Banque du Lib ...

, central bank of Lebanon, went bankrupt: "The state has gone bankrupt as did the Banque du Liban, and the loss has occurred, and we will seek to reduce losses for the people."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shami, Saadeh 20th-century economists 20th-century Lebanese people 21st-century economists 21st-century Lebanese people 1954 births Living people McMaster University alumni University of Ottawa alumni Academic staff of the American University of Beirut Deputy prime ministers of Lebanon Government ministers of Lebanon International Monetary Fund people Greek Orthodox Christians from Lebanon Syrian Social Nationalist Party in Lebanon politicians Lebanese economists