Lebanon’s budget deficit in the first four months of this year rose to 37.2 percent of spending compared to 33.75 percent in the same period last year, according to data release by the Finance Ministry.
The ministry said that total government revenues from January through March 2016 rose to LL3.66 trillion ($2.43 billion), an increase of 16.7 percent while total expenditures in the same period reached LL5.838 trillion, an increase of 23.1 percent.
First-quarter revenues from telecoms stood at LL523.861 billion, an increase of 44.2 percent compared to the same period of 2015.
The state’s revenues from the value added tax, customs and the income tax also improved.
However these gains were offset by payments on previous accounts and budgets.
The primary deficit – the balance before debt service – for the period stood at LL604.313 billion compared to primary deficit of LL208.101 billion in the same period of 2015, an increase of 190 percent.
