Home » LEBANON BRIEF » Issue May 2018
According to the Central Bank of Lebanon, Lebanon’s Balance of Payments (BoP) registered a deficit of $364.6 million deficit in March 2018 compared to a deficit of $79.7 million registered in the previous ... read more
According to the central bank’s (BDL) balance sheet, total assets rose by 7.57% year-to-date (YTD) to stand at $127.21B in May 2018. In details, Foreign assets (constituting 35.59% of BDL’s total assets) ... read more
On the 31st of May 2018, the ordinary general assembly of BLC Bank decided to distribute dividends for the financial year that ended on the 31st of December 2017, as follows: For holders of BLC Preferred ... read more
According to financial statements released by Bank Audi, the bank’s Egyptian subsidiary recorded a 25.08% yearly rise in net profits to $14.7 million by March 2018 despite the increase in administrative ... read more
According to the Association of Lebanese Banks (ABL), the value of cleared checks reached $22.13B by April 2018, down by 1.39% compared to the same period last year. Likewise, the total number of cleared ... read more
The activity at Rafic Hariri International Airport improved in the first four months of the year as the total number of passengers rose by an annual 13.9% to 2.55M by April 2018. This can be partly ... read more
According to the Ministry of Finance (MoF), Lebanon’s gross public debt reached $81.875B in March 2018 recording an annual uptick of 6.1% and a 0.43% uptick from February 2018’s level. In details, local ... read more
According to the Ministry of Industry, the total value of industrial exports during January and February 2018 increased by 4.8% compared to the same period of the year 2017. The total value of industrial ... read more
According to the Central Bank of Lebanon, Lebanon’s Balance of Payments (BoP) witnessed a surplus of $153.2M by February 2018 as compared to the $508.5M surplus recorded during the same period in ... read more
According to the Central Administration of Statistics (CAS), the Consumer Price Index (CPI) of Lebanon rose by 5.47% by April 2018. The average price of the clothing and footwear industry, accounting for ... read more
Lebanon’s Ministry of Finance (MoF) released on Friday that a debt exchange was completed with the Central Bank of Lebanon (BDL) whereby Treasury Bills (TBs) held by the latter will be exchanged for $5.5B ... read more
The revenues of the Port of Beirut increased by 4.22% from $18.93 Million in April 2017 to $19.73 Million in April 2018. Despite the increase in revenues, the number of ships that docked at the Port of ... read more
According to the Ministry of Tourism, the total number of tourists in Lebanon rose from 345,168 in Q1 2017 to 362,398 in Q1 2018, owing it to the yearly growths recorded in tourist arrivals from Europe and ... read more
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 ... read more
Odeabank, Bank Audi’s Turkish subsidiary, released its financial statements for the first three months of 2018. The bank revealed a net profit of $17.26 million (M) compared to $21.33M recorded in Q1 2017. ... read more
Characteristics of BLC Capital Increase Increase in capital $174,799 Number of preferred shares issued 263,510 Price/share $0.66 Capital after issuance $142.6M BLC’s Board of Directors (BOD) invited its ... read more
BLC’s board of directors (BoD) invites its shareholders to a general assembly at the bank’s headquarters in Beirut. The meeting will take place on the 31st of May 2018 at 10:00 am. The key items on the ... read more
According to the Association of Lebanese Car Importers (AIA), the number of newly registered “commercial” and “passenger” cars recorded a 5.65% annual downtick to settle at 10,909 cars by April 2018. In ... read more
Lebanon’s trade deficit for the first three months of 2018 (“Q1” hereafter) stood at $3.9B, narrowing from $4.2B in Q1 2017, on the back of total imports that retreated by an annual 2.9% to $4.8B, while ... read more
On the 4th of May 2018, the ordinary general assembly of Bank of Beirut’s (BOB) shareholders was held at the bank’s headquarters. The assembly approved 2017’s accounts and decided to distribute dividends ... read more
According to E&Y’s Middle East Hotel Benchmark Survey, Beirut’s hotel occupancy rate slipped from 62.4% in Q1 2017 to 57.9% in Q1 2018. The down tick in hotel occupancy may be linked to the slashed ... read more
According to the Lebanese Ministry of Industry, the value of industrial exports rose by an annual 6.3% from $175.9 million (M) in the first month of 2017 to $187M in January 2018. In details, the main ... read more
The activity in Lebanon’s real estate (RE) sector in the first quarter of 2018 slowed down after recording marginal improvements in performance in the first two months. According to the data from the ... read more
The activity at Rafic Hariri International Airport increased by February 2018, as the total number of passengers rose by a yearly 19.35% to 1.20M. The number of arrivals grew by 8.01% year-on-year (y-o-y) ... read more
A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Daily Star on May 31, 2018, on page 4. The parliamentary elections are over, but the economic challenges facing Lebanon are still there ... read more
Lebanon’s BLOM Bond Index (BBI) continued to drop over the week ending May 31, 2018, as it slipped by 0.31% to reach 92.86 points and by 3.9% since the beginning of May. The index was pulled down ... read more
The BLOM Stock Index (BSI) lost a weekly 1.90% this week, to reach 1,101.5 points by June 1 2018. The market capitalization however shrank marginally from last week’s $11.07B to $10.86B this week. An ... read more
During the week ending on May 17th, Broad Money (M3) decreased by a weekly LBP 158B ($105M) to reach LBP 210,494B ($140B). On a yearly basis, M3 added 2.89% and rose by 1.16% since the start of the year. ... 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 1st, at the same range as last ... read more
During the week ending on May 3rd, Broad Money (M3) rose by a weekly LBP 234B ($156M) to reach LBP 210,670B ($140B). On a yearly basis, M3 added 3.27% and rose by 1.24% since the start of the year. M1 also ... read more
The BLOM Stock Index (BSI) lost a weekly 0.6% this week, to reach 1,122.81 points by May 24th 2018. The market capitalization however shrank marginally from last week’s $11.13B to $11.07B this week. ... read more
Lebanon’s BLOM Bond Index (BBI) dropped by a weekly 0.36% to reach 93.15 points and by 3.6% over the past 2 weeks. As for the JP Morgan Emerging Markets’ Bond Index (EMBI), it recorded a weekly rise of ... 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 May 24th, at the same range as last ... read more
The BLOM Stock Index (BSI) lost a weekly 0.32% this week, to reach 1,129.57 points by May 18th 2018. The market capitalization however shrank marginally from last week’s $11.16B to $11.13B this week. An ... 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 May 18th, at the same range as last week. The ... read more
Lebanon’s BLOM Bond Index (BBI) dropped by 1.17% over the past week to reach 93.49 points. As for the JP Morgan Emerging Markets’ Bond Index (EMBI), it recorded a lesser weekly downtick of 0.57% and ... read more
Ministry of Finance Raised $400M in its May 10th T-Bills AuctionDuring the week ending on May 3rd, Broad Money (M3) rose by a weekly LBP 234B ($156M) to reach LBP 210,670B ($140B). On a yearly basis, M3 ... 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 May 11th, at the same range as last week. The ... read more
The BLOM Stock Index (BSI) added an incremental 0.16% over the past week to reach 1,133.20 points by May 11, 2018. The market capitalization also rose from last week’s $11.15B to $11.16B this week. ... read more
During the week ending on Apr. 5, 2018, Broad Money (M3) contracted by a weekly LBP 166B ($110M) to reach LBP 210,065B ($139B). On a yearly basis, M3 added 3.65% and rose by 0.95% since the start of the ... read more
In line with the international developments this week, Lebanon’s BLOM Bond Index (BBI) recorded a decline of 2.09% to end the week at 94.6 points. It was further surpassed by the JP Morgan Emerging ... read more
The BLOM Lebanon Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) registered 46.4 in May 2018 compared to 46.2 in April 2018. The activity at Lebanese Private Sector businesses remained subdued in May with surveyed ... read more
Abstract The substantial delay in publishing national accounts (namely the Gross Domestic Product, GDP) and thus economic growth (g) in developed and developing countries cripples financiers’ and ... read more
Despite favourable recent developments, Lebanon continues to face vulnerabilities and mounting challenges. The conflict in Syria and the resulting mass influx of refugees into Lebanon have affected the ... read more
The insurance sector, like many other sectors of the Lebanese economy, has been inevitably under the strain of local and regional turmoil. In Lebanon, the resignation of Prime Minister Saad Hariri in ... read more