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Economy
Economy - overview: The 1975-91 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. Peace enabled the central government to restore control in Beirut, begin collecting taxes, and regain access to key port and government facilities. Economic recovery was helped by a financially sound banking system and resilient small- and medium-scale manufacturers. Family remittances, banking services, manufactured and farm exports, and international aid provided the main sources of foreign exchange. Lebanon's economy has made impressive gains since the launch in 1993 of "Horizon 2000," the government's $20 billion reconstruction program. Real GDP grew 8% in 1994, 7% in 1995, 4% per year in 1996 and 1997 but slowed to 2% in 1998, -1% in 1999, and 1% in 2000. Annual inflation fell during the course of the 1990s from more than 100% to 0%, and foreign exchange reserves jumped from $1.4 billion to more than $6 billion. Burgeoning capital inflows have generated foreign payments surpluses, and the Lebanese pound has remained very stable for the past two years. Lebanon has rebuilt much of its war-torn physical and financial infrastructure. Solidere, a $2-billion firm, has managed the reconstruction of Beirut's central business district; the stock market reopened in January 1996; and international banks and insurance companies are returning. The government nonetheless faces serious challenges in the economic arena. It has funded reconstruction by tapping foreign exchange reserves and by borrowing heavily - mostly from domestic banks. The newly re-installed HARIRI government's announced policies fail to address the ever-increasing budgetary deficits and national debt burden. The gap between rich and poor has widened in the 1990s, resulting in grassroots dissatisfaction over the skewed distribution of the reconstruction's benefits.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $18.2 billion (2000 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 1% (2000 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $5,000 (2000 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 12%
Industry: 27%
Services: 61% (1999 est.)
Population below poverty line: 28% (1999 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: NA%
Highest 10%: NA%
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 0% (2000 est.)
Labor force: 1.3 million (1999 est.)
Note: in addition, there are as many as 1 million foreign workers (1997 est.)
Labor force - by occupation: services NA%, industry NA%, agriculture NA%
Unemployment rate: 18% (1997 est.)
Budget: revenues: $3.31 billion
Expenditures: $5.55 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.)
Industries: banking; food processing; jewelry; cement; textiles; mineral and chemical products; wood and furniture products; oil refining; metal fabricating
Industrial production growth rate: NA%
Electricity - production: 7.748 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 91.29%
Hydro: 8.71%
Nuclear: 0%
Other: 0% (1999)
Electricity - consumption: 7.86 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (1999)
Electricity - imports: 654 million kWh (1999)
Agriculture - products: citrus, grapes, tomatoes, apples, vegetables, potatoes, olives, tobacco; sheep, goats
Exports: $700 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.)
Exports - commodities: foodstuffs and tobacco, textiles, chemicals, precious stones, metal and metal products, electrical equipment and products, jewelry, paper and paper products
Exports - partners: UAE 9%, Saudi Arabia 8%, Syria 6%, US 6%, Kuwait 6%, France 5%, Belgium 5%, Jordan 4% (1999)
Imports: $6.2 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)
Imports - commodities: foodstuffs, machinery and transport equipment, consumer goods, chemicals, textiles, metals, fuels, agricultural foods
Imports - partners: Italy 13%, France 11%, Germany 8%, US 7%, Switzerland 6%, Japan, UK, Syria (1999)
Debt - external: $9.6 billion (2000 est.)
Economic aid - recipient: $3.5 billion (pledges 1997-2001)
Currency: Lebanese pound (LBP)
Currency code: LBP
Exchange rates: Lebanese pounds per US dollar - 1,507.5 (January 2001), 1,507.5 (2000), 1,507.8 (1999), 1,516.1 (1998), 1,539.5 (1997), 1,571.4 (1996)
Fiscal year: calendar year
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International organization participation:
ABEDA, ACCT, AFESD, AL, AMF, CCC, ESCWA, FAO, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITU, NAM, OAS (observer), OIC, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNRWA, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer)
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Transportation
Railways: total: 399 km (mostly unusable because of damage in civil war)
Standard gauge: 317 km 1.435-m
Narrow gauge: 82 km (1999)
Highways: total: 7,300 km
Paved: 6,350 km
Unpaved: 950 km (1999 est.)
Waterways: none
Pipelines: crude oil 72 km (none in operation)
Ports and harbors: Antilyas, Batroun, Beirut, Chekka, El Mina, Ez Zahrani, Jbail, Jounie, Naqoura, Sidon, Tripoli, Tyre
Merchant marine: total: 71 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 379,705 GRT/592,672 DWT
Ships by type: bulk 10, cargo 42, chemical tanker 1, combination bulk 1, combination ore/oil 1, container 4, liquefied gas 1, livestock carrier 5, refrigerated cargo 1, roll on/roll off 2, vehicle carrier 3
Note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Netherlands 1, Syria 1 (2000 est.)
Airports: 8 (2000 est.)
Airports - with paved runways: total: 5
Over 3,047 m: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 2
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
Under 914 m: 1 (2000 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 3
914 to 1,523 m: 2
Under 914 m: 1 (2000 est.)
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| Region |
Type |
Price |
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| Russia |
Rapan |
$650 |
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| USA |
Bengal Rice |
$630 |
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| USA |
Calrose #1 |
$700 |
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| USA |
Calrose #1 Paddy |
$400 |
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| EU Prices |
Baldo |
€660 |
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