Kafalat s.a.l, a Lebanese financial company that provides loan guarantees to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) issued the number of loan guarantees given from January 2018 to April 2018.
According to Kafalat, the total number of issued loan guarantees dropped from 194 by April 2017 to 138 by April 2018.
According to a geographic breakdown, the number of issued guarantees in Mount Lebanon fell from 88 by April 2017 to 62 by April 2018. The region of Mount Lebanon grasped the lion’s share of guarantees as it accounted for 45% of total guarantees.
The second largest region benefitting from Kafalat guarantees is the region of Bekaa with a share of 16% in the total. The number of issued guarantees in the Bekaa region was slashed by half going from 44 by April 2017 to 22 by April 2018.
In terms of sectors, the industrial sector grasped 39% of the total issued guarantees but saw in decline in guarantees from 65 guarantees by April 2017 to 54 guarantees by April 2018. Agriculture comes a close second with a share of 35% in total guarantees but also witnessed a decline from 77 guarantees in the first four months of 2017 to 48 in the first four months of 2018. Although the number of tourist arrivals is slowly recovering, guarantees granted in the tourism sector, which account for 21% of total guarantees, declined from 39 to 29 over the same period mentioned above.
Kafalat’s figures show that business activity in Lebanon is strained in line with the BLOM Lebanon Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) reading which stands at 46.2, the lowest level of the year.
Number of Issued Kafalat Guarantees by April of Each Year
Source: Kafalat