Lebanon: Trade deficit widening

Lebanon's trade deficit is widening, although exports reported a slight increase

The [Lebanese] Higher Customs Council  said exports reported a slight annual rise during the first 10 months of 2012 while the increase of imports extended its slowdown to a single-digit growth.

Consequently, the rise in the trade deficit eased to 5.5 percent annually to reach a total of $14.1 billion in the aforementioned period of 2012.

Imports grew by 5.3 percent over the period, moving from $16.9 billion in the first 10 months of 2011 to $17.8 billion in the same period of 2012.

The rise of incoming merchandise has been slowing down since the first two months of this year partly on account of a weaker local demand, be it for consumption or investment purposes, impacted by the sporadic developments the country has been witnessing so far this year, not to mention the spillover fears stemming from neighboring conflicts.