Lebanon is paying for the internal political crisis and the events in Syria, says an economic report issued by the HSBC bank. The growth forecast of real GDP growth, in Lebanon, is down to 2.7% from 3.2% for the year 2011.
The report cited the 5% decline in the number of passengers traveling through Beirut International Airport, in addition to the ongoing decline of real estate activity, attributed to regional unrest and other cyclical factors.
According to the report, the decline in growth may cause the budget deficit to increase significantly due to increased public spending and the decline of public revenues, in the first quarter of this year.
The report does not expect the Lebanese government to implement any of the promised reforms in the near future, such as selling state-owned organizations depleting the public treasury, to help achieve some stability in the general finance.
Lebanon, which suffers from debt accumulation amounting to $50 billion dollars, depends on the banking, real estate and tourism sectors as the basic essentials of the local economy.
Source: www.yallafinance.com
