Overview: Since 1975 civil war has 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. Following October 1990, however, 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, has 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 year 1993 was marked by efforts of the new administration to encourage domestic and foreign investment and to obtain additional international assistance.

National product: GDP - exchange rate conversion - $6.1 billion (1993 est.)

National product real growth rate: 4.2% (1992)

National product per capita: $1,720 (1993 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 35% (1993 est.)

Unemployment rate: 35% (1993 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $990 million
expenditures: $1.98 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1993 est.)

Exports: $925 million (f.o.b., 1993 est.)
commodities: agricultural products, chemicals, textiles, precious and semiprecious metals and jewelry, metals and metal products
partners: Saudi Arabia 21%, Switzerland 9.5%, Jordan 6%, Kuwait 12%, US 5%

Imports: $4.1 billion (c.i.f., 1993 est.)
commodities: Consumer goods, machinery and transport equipment, petroleum products
partners: Italy 14%, France 12%, US 6%, Turkey 5%, Saudi Arabia 3%

External debt: $700 million (1993 est.)

Industrial production: growth rate 25% (1993 est.)

Electricity:
capacity: 1,300,000 kW
production: 3.413 billion kWh
consumption per capita: 990 kWh (1992)

Industries: banking, food processing, textiles, cement, oil refining, chemicals, jewelry, some metal fabricating

Agriculture: accounts for about one-third of GDP; principal products - citrus fruits, vegetables, potatoes, olives, tobacco, hemp (hashish), sheep, goats; not self-sufficient in grain

Illicit drugs: 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

Economic aid: aid for Lebanon's reconstruction programs currently totals $1.3 billion since October 1992, including a $175 million loan from the World Bank

Currency: 1 Lebanese pound (#L) = 100 piasters
Exchange rates: Lebanese pounds (#L) per US$1 - 1,713.00 (December 1993), 2,200.00 (1992), 928.23 (1991), 695.09 (1990), 496.69 (1989)

Fiscal year: calendar year

NOTE: The information regarding Lebanon on this page is re-published from the 1995 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Lebanon Economy 1995 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Lebanon Economy 1995 should be addressed to the CIA.