The Lebanese economy remained in a challenging position in 2015, however some improvements were achieved. Tourism activity reached a four-year high in 2015 with the number of tourist arrivals rising by 12.05% to 1.52 million. Lower oil prices and the depreciation of the euro allowed for the trade deficit to narrow by a yearly 16% to $13.29B by November. Lower energy prices also alleviated the burden of transfers to EDL on the Ministry of Finance as transfers dropped from $943.88 million up to May 2014 to $472.07 million in 2015.
On the downside, public debt is still on an upward trajectory reaching $70.4B by November and the fiscal deficit broadened by a yearly 17.38% to $2.61 billion by September. The activity of the private sector remains subdued with the BLOM Lebanon PMI staying under the 50 points mark separating economic expansion from economic recession for all but one month since inception. Unrest in the region and local political hurdles have continued to weigh on consumer sentiment and on inflows of foreign investments.
The economic challenges facing Lebanon took their toll on the demand of durable goods, notably cars but the situation slightly improved in 2015. The car market has been struggling since 2011 with four years of yearly drops in the registration of new and imported used cars. However, data from the Association of Car Importers in Lebanon highlighted an improvement in the registration of new cars in 2015. The number of registered used cars also registered its first increase since 2009 jumping by more than 5%.
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