
Marwan Iskandar. Screenshot/TeleLiban
Marwan Iskandar, economist, adviser and financial analyst, passed away Tuesday morning at the age of 87.
Author, consultant, banker, and close adviser to former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, who was assassinated in 2005, as well as Fouad Siniora, he was one of the most recognizable figures in the Lebanese economic landscape. He also played a key role in advising several Gulf states, including the Emir of Qatar between 1978 and 1982. Known for his expertise and influence in the economic field, he is also considered a pioneer of bank mergers in Lebanon.
Born in 1938, he studied at the American University of Beirut and the Lebanese University before earning a doctorate in economics from Oxford University in the United Kingdom. Alongside his consulting activities, he regularly contributed to the newspaper an-Nahar, providing insight on economic and financial issues.
Throughout his career, he was distinguished by his major contribution to the Lebanese economy. He founded and chaired an economic studies office and was the general director of MI Associates.
Author of numerous works, Iskandar notably wrote “Rafik Hariri and the Fate of Lebanon,” where he outlines the path of the former prime minister, the political upheavals that followed his assassination, and their economic repercussions up to the July 2006 war. He also participated in two commissions aimed at revitalizing the Lebanese economy, in 1986 and 1992, and created an Arab banking institution in Paris in 1977.
Marwan Iskandar is survived by his wife, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter. His son, Samer Iskandar, a former correspondent at the Financial Times, passed away last year after battling cancer.