Balance of Payments Deficit Reached $1.77B in H1 2016

According to the Central Bank of Lebanon, Lebanon’s Balance of Payments (BoP) witnessed a deficit increase from $1.32B in the first half (H1) of 2015 to $1.77B in H1 2016. Net Foreign Assets (NFA) of both BDL and commercial banks decreased by $368.1M and $1.41B by June 2016, respectively, compared to an upturn of $1.83B in BDL’s NFA and a drop of $3.15B by June 2015. As such, the widening BoP deficit can be attributed to the growing trade deficit that reached $7.93B in H1 2016 and the lower inflows of foreign direct investments.

Moreover, the BoP accounted for a $13M deficit in June 2016 alone compared to a wider deficit of $794.3M in June 2015. The change can be partially justified by the 10.64% yearly drop in trade deficit in June 2016, following declining imports’ value over the month, which in turn resulted from lower international oil prices.

Balance of Payments (BoP) in H1 (in Millions $)

Balance of Payments Deficit Reached $1.77B in H1 2016

 Source: BDL

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