CBL report confirms the poor performance of the Lebanese economy in 2015

Following the recent resentment expressed by the local banking sector over the negative figures posted by the Union of Arab Banks and the International Finance Corporation pointing to a fall in emigrants remittances to the country in the past two years (:http://bit.ly/2bZCPnv) , the Central Bank of Lebanon (CBL) early this week issued a report clarifying the economic performance of the country in 2015. The report which read ‘the scene of the monetary policy of the Bank of Lebanon’ presented a synopsis of the macro-economic conditions in the country, maintaining a slowdown in expatriate money flowing into Lebanon (falling to nearly USD 7.16 billion during 2015). The report also indicated contractions in the export and investment activity, leading to a mounting deficit in the balance of payments (USD 3 billion). The Central Bank’s analysis highlighted the impact of political, social and security tensions affecting economic performance, and recording a growth rate lower than 1%, and a high level of public debt reaching nearly 148.7% of Gross Domestic Product. 

(Al Mustaqbal, An Nahar, August 29, 31, 2016)

 

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