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Lebanon Economy 1996
The 1975-1991 civil war seriously damaged Lebanon's economic infrastructure,
cut national output by half, and all but ended Lebanon's position as a
Middle Eastern entrepot and banking hub. A tentative peace has enabled the
central government to begin restoring control in Beirut, collect taxes, and
regain access to key port and government facilities. The battered economy
has also been propped up by a financially sound banking system and resilient
small- and medium-scale manufacturers. Family remittances, banking
transactions, manufactured and farm exports, the narcotics trade, and
international emergency aid are the main sources of foreign exchange. In the
relatively settled year of 1991, industrial production, agricultural output,
and exports showed substantial gains. The further rebuilding of the
war-ravaged country was delayed in 1992 because of an upturn in political
wrangling. In October 1992, Rafiq HARIRI was appointed Prime Minister.
HARIRI, a wealthy entrepreneur, announced ambitious plans for Lebanon's
reconstruction which involve a substantial influx of foreign aid and
investment. Progress on restoring basic services is limited. Since Prime
Minister HARIRI's appointment, the most significant improvement lies in the
stabilization of the Lebanese pound, which had gained over 30% in value by
yearend 1993. The years 1993 and 1994 were marked by efforts of the new
administration to encourage domestic and foreign investment and to obtain
additional international assistance. The construction sector led the 8.5%
advance in real GDP in 1994.
GDP - purchasing power parity - $15.8 billion (1994 est.)
-
National product real growth rate:
-
National product per capita:
-
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
$925 million (f.o.b., 1993 est.)
agricultural products, chemicals, textiles, precious and semiprecious metals
and jewelry, metals and metal products
Saudi Arabia 21%, Switzerland 9.5%, Jordan 6%, Kuwait 12%, US 5%
$4.1 billion (c.i.f., 1993 est.)
consumer goods, machinery and transport equipment, petroleum products
Italy 14%, France 12%, US 6%, Turkey 5%, Saudi Arabia 3%
growth rate 25% (1993 est.)
banking, food processing, textiles, cement, oil refining, chemicals,
jewelry, some metal fabricating
principal products - citrus fruits, vegetables, potatoes, olives, tobacco,
hemp (hashish), sheep, goats; not self-sufficient in grain
illicit producer of hashish and heroin for the international drug trade;
hashish production is shipped to Western Europe, the Middle East, and North
and South America; increasingly a key locus of cocaine processing and
trafficking; a Lebanese/Syrian 1994 eradication campaign eliminated the
opium crop and caused a 50% decrease in the cannabis crop
the government estimates that it has received $1.7 billion in aid and has an
additional $725 million in commitments to support its $3 billion National
Emergency Recovery Program
1 Lebanese pound (#L) = 100 piasters
Lebanese pounds (#L) per US$1 - 1,644.6 (January 1995), 1,680.1 (1994),
1,741.4 (1993), 1,712.8 (1992), 928.23 (1991), 695.09 (1990)
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