Lebanon Economic Monitor, Fall 2016

The Lebanon Economic Monitor provides an update on key economic developments and policies overthe past six months. It also presents findings from recent World Bank work on Lebanon. It places them in a longer-term and global context, and assesses the implications of these developments and other changes in policy on the outlook for Lebanon. Its coverage ranges from the macro-economy tofinancial markets to indicators of human welfare and development. As the political stalemate continues, policy-making bodies of the country are mostly inoperative. This is manifested by a presidential vacancy for two and a half years, a parliament that seldom convenes and a cabinet that hardly finds a consensus to take decisions. Amid fiscal policy paralysis, monetary policy under the proactive Banque du Liban (BdL) continues to actively manage economic and financial challenges facing the country. Economic activity in 2016 is marginally picking up, thanks to the construction and travel sectors in the context of benign security conditions. Real GDP growth is estimated to have reached 1.3 percent in 2015 and is projected to accelerate slightly to 1.8 percent, in 2016, partly on account of a moderate first half of 2016.