Home » LEBANON BRIEF » Issue June 2018
The World Bank Group (WB) approved a new $400M project on June 27, 2018 which promises to create around 64,000 job opportunities in the market, of which 81% would be “permanent” jobs while the rest are ... read more
According to the Ministry of Finance (MoF), Lebanon’s gross public debt reached $81.75B in the fourth month of 2018, thereby recording an annual uptick of 6.27%. In details, local currency debt ... read more
According to the Lebanese Customs, total imports’ value dropped by a yearly 3.63% to $6.37B by May 2018, and exports’ value escalated from $965.29M to $1.07B. In details, the breakdown of transported goods ... read more
The financial statements of the “Societe Libanaise des Ciments Blancs” revealed an increase in the company’s profit from $4.39M in 2016 to $4.45M in 2017. Revenues also rose by an annual 10.19% to $13.45M ... read more
Cement deliveries increased by a marginal 0.15%, annually, by April 2018 to stand at 1.512M tons, compared to 1.510M tons by April 2017. In addition, the six-month moving average of the number of cement ... read more
The balance sheet of the Lebanese Central Bank (BdL) revealed that total assets reached $128.79B in mid- June 2018, recording a 2.8% increase from Mid-May’s 2018 level. Foreign assets, constituting 35% of ... read more
According to the Central Administration of Statistics (CAS), consumer prices in Lebanon went up by 5.7% in the first five months of 2018 since the average Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose from 99.32 by May ... read more
According to Holcim’s balance sheet as of December 2017, the company’s assets grew by 3.03% year-on-year to $264.3M. However, total equity declined by 3.34% year-on-year to $176.06M at the end of December ... read more
According to the Real Estate Advisory Agency RAMCO, the average size of an apartment under construction in Beirut stood at 182 SQM in 2017, 8% lower than 2016’s average. Moreover, between 2009 and 2017, ... read more
According to the Ministry of Tourism, the number of tourist arrivals increased by a marginal 1.02% by May 2018 compared to the same period in 2017. The increase was partly hampered by the elections held in ... read more
According to the Ministry of Industry, the total value of industrial exports increased by 5.4% by March 2018 (during Q1 of 2018) compared to the same period of the year 2017. The total value of ... read more
Solidere’s consolidated financial statements for the 2017 revealed a $116.06M loss compared to a net profit of $75.32M over the same period in 2016. This can be mainly linked to the fact that no new deals ... read more
The revenues of the Port of Beirut increased by 3.47% by May 2018 to reach $99.22 million compared to $95.89 million on a year-on-year basis. The number of ships that docked at the Port of Beirut decreased ... read more
According to the Central Bank of Lebanon, Lebanon’s Balance of Payments (BoP) witnessed a deficit of $754.74M by April 2018 as compared to the $233.9M surplus recorded during the same period in ... read more
According to the Association of Lebanese Car Importers (AIA), the number of newly registered commercial and passenger cars recorded a 7.27% annual downtick to settle at 13,931 cars by May 2018. In details, ... read more
Lebanon’s trade deficit dropped by 1.8% to $5.3B by April 2018 as a result of a 10.67% increase in exports to reach $1.1B which offset the marginal 0.14% increase in imports to $6.4B In terms of imports, ... read more
Solidere announced its annual general assembly to be held on Friday June 29th, 2018, inviting the holders of Solidere “A” and “B” shares to attend. The general assembly meeting is set to take place at 9:30 ... read more
The board of directors of HOLCIM (Liban) S.A.L invited the company’s shareholders to attend the general annual assembly meeting, which will be held at Le Royal Hotel on Tuesday the 3rd of July 2018 at ... read more
According to the Ministry of Industry, the total number of permits granted for industrial factories reached 652 in 2017. The highest number of approved permits, 92, was recorded during the month of October ... read more
According to Ernest and Young’s Middle East Hotel Benchmark Survey, Beirut’s hotel occupancy rate slipped from 64.5% by April 2017 to 60.5% by April 2018. The average room rate of Beirut’s 4 and 5 stars ... read more
Cement deliveries decreased by an annual 1.30% by March 2018 to stand at 1.05M tons, compared to 1.07M tons by March 2017. In addition, the six-month moving average of the number of cement deliveries ... read more
By Dr. Ali Bolbol, Chief Economist at BLOM Bank and Alexandre Mouradian, Head of Investor Relations at Blominvest Bank Introduction It is often mentioned that Lebanon suffers from a productivity gap or ... read more
During the week ending on June 14th, Broad Money (M3) increased by a weekly LBP 395B ($262M) to reach LBP 211,629B ($140B). On a yearly basis, M3 added 2.65% y-o-y and rose by 1.70% since the start of the ... read more
Lebanese Forex Market The Lebanese Pound traded within the range of $/LP 1,514-1,514.5 against the dollar with a mid-price of $/LP 1,514.25 by the week ending June 29th, at the same range as last week. ... read more
Lebanon’s BLOM Bond Index (BBI) dropped by 1.49% over the past week to reach 88.72 points. As for the JP Morgan Emerging Markets’ Bond Index (EMBI), it recorded a marginal increase of 0.10% and reached ... read more
The BLOM Stock Index (BSI) decreased by a weekly 1.44%, to settle at 1,048.79 points by June 29, 2018. That was also mirrored by the market capitalization contracting from last week’s $10.49B to $10.34B ... read more
The week after Fitr Holiday showed no improvement in the performance of the Beirut Stock Exchange (BSE) with the BLOM Stock Index (BSI) decreasing by a weekly 1.33%, to settle at 1,064.15 points by June ... read more
Lebanese Forex Market The Lebanese Pound traded within the range of $/LP 1,514-1,514.5 against the dollar with a mid-price of $/LP 1,514.25 by the week ending June 22nd, at the same range as last week. The ... read more
During the week ending on June 07th, Broad Money (M3) decreased by a weekly LBP 53B ($35M) to reach LBP 205,649B ($136.4B). On a yearly basis, M3 added 2.72% y-o-y and rose by 1.51% since the start of the ... read more
Lebanon’s BLOM Bond Index (BBI) dropped by 1.96% over the past week to reach 90.06 points. As for the JP Morgan Emerging Markets’ Bond Index (EMBI), it recorded a marginal increase of 0.07% and reached ... read more
Lebanese Forex Market The Lebanese Pound traded within the range of $/LP 1,514-1,514.5 against the dollar with a mid-price of $/LP 1,514.25 by the week ending June 14th, at the same range as last ... read more
During the week ending on May 24th, Broad Money (M3) decreased by a weekly LBP 200B ($133M) to reach LBP 210,295B ($139). On a yearly basis, M3 added 2.64% and rose by 1.06% since the start of the year. M1 ... read more
Lebanon’s BLOM Bond Index (BBI) dropped by 0.88% over the past week to reach 91.51 points. As for the JP Morgan Emerging Markets’ Bond Index (EMBI), it recorded a lesser weekly slip of 0.75% and reached ... read more
The BLOM Stock Index (BSI) lost a weekly 0.73% this week, to reach 1,078.53 points by June 14, 2018. The market capitalization however marginally rose from last week’s $10.71B to $10.73B this week. An ... read more
The BLOM Stock Index (BSI) lost a weekly 1.37% this week, to reach 1,086.42 points by June 8, 2018. The market capitalization however shrank marginally from last week’s $10.86B to $10.71B this week. An ... read more
Lebanon’s BLOM Bond Index (BBI) dropped by 0.58% over the past week to reach 92.32 points. As for the JP Morgan Emerging Markets’ Bond Index (EMBI), it recorded a lesser weekly downtick of 0.47% and ... read more
During the week ending on May 24th, Broad Money (M3) decreased by a weekly LBP 200B ($133M) to reach LBP 210.295B ($139). On a yearly basis, M3 added 2.64% and rose by 1.06% since the start of the year. M1 ... read more
Lebanese Forex Market The Lebanese Pound traded within the range of $/LP 1,514-1,514.5 against the dollar with a mid-price of $/LP 1,514.25 by the week ending June 8th, at the same range as last ... read more
A copy of this article was published in The Daily Star print page 4,on June 29, 2018. E-Link also here This article was also translated to Arabic تأثير اللاجئين السوريين على سوق العمل اللبناني & quoted ... read more
When discussing the real estate market, a common misconception leads many to think only about the residential segment of the market. However, the real estate market encompasses the housing segment and the ... read more
Abstract The report aims to explore the existing market for tobacco-based products in Lebanon. It focuses on the contribution of the “cigarettes” industry to the economy and does not tackle “smoking” or ... read more
According to the Central Administration of Statistics (CAS), Lebanon’s real GDP growth slightly picked up in 2016. Lebanon’s Real GDP growth rose to 1.7% in 2016 with the nominal GDP standing at $51.48 ... read more