Negative indicators in agriculture, tourism and industry and a 21.15% annual drop in Kafalat’s lending

As Safir newspaper published a report about the current overall negative economic indicators in Lebanon which include the production and service sectors.  The report noted that the decline of these sectors is attributed to the current sluggish situation of the Lebanese economy amidst local and regional political tensions.  This is particularly affecting new investments given the impact of poor electrical, water, energy and communication services, various administrative and legal hurdles, as indicated in the report issued by Kafalat and the Research Unit at the Credit Libanais bank.
Statistics of Kafalat indicate an annual drop if 21.5% in the number of loans bestowed which have reached 481 units by the end of 2013 compared with 601 units during the same period of 2012.  The total size of loans recorded LBP 102.07 billion, thus revealing an increase in the size of the average individual loan which now stands at LBP 212.20 million.  The highest percentage of loans during the first four months of 2013 was in agriculture (40.9%), while Mount Lebanon appears to attract the highest number of loans (38.46%) followed by the Beqaa (23.91%) and the South (11.85%).
A comparison of figures for the distribution of projects per sectors, for the first 7 months of 2013 with those of 2012, reveals the following:

• Agriculture: 229 projects in July 2012 versus 197 projects in July 2013; i.e. a drop of 32 projects (13.9 %)
• Industry: 228 projects in July 2012 versus 160 projects in July 2013; i.e. a drop of 68 projects (29.82 %)
• Tourism: 120 projects in July 2012 versus 86 projects in July 2013; i.e. a drop of 68 projects (28.33 %)
• Other sectors: 33 projects in July 2012 versus 38 projects in July 2013; i.e. an increase of 5 projects (15.15 %)

Source: Al-Safir 21 August 2013