During a presentation with the International Rating Standard & Poor’s (S&P), Ministry of Finance (MoF) revealed that a $300 million (LBP 27 trillion) surplus was realized in 2024, contrary to the 2024 budget law that estimated a deficit of LBP 17.19 trillion. Despite the escalation of the war with Israel for more than two months, total cash revenues recorded $4.1 billion (LBP 366 trillion, mainly from tax revenues) compared to $3.8 billion (LBP 340 trillion) in spending. As per Ministry of Finance, the war imposed some challenges related to the collection of revenues due to extended deadlines and increased spending to cover some of the expenses related to the displacing almost quarter of Lebanese citizens. Interesting to note that treasury’s surplus decreased from $364 million in 2023 and these surpluses played a vital role in lowering inflation and stabilizing the exchange rate.
The revenues collected in 2024 showed an increase of 18.84% compared to 2024 budget law prepared by the MoF, which estimated revenues to reach $3.45 billion (LBP 308 trillion) out of which $2.72 billion (LBP 243.09 trillion) from tax revenues (mainly Value Added Taxes “VAT”). Regarding expenditures, it totaled $3.8 billion (LBP 340 trillion) and the major part went to salaries and wages in addition to domestic obligations such as National Social Security Fund (NSSF) and Electricité Du Liban (EDL). What is interesting is that the expenditures included $368 million in external debt and arrears for 2002 – 2023 period, mainly to official international parties such as World Bank. These payments, accompanied with the restructuring of Lebanese debt payments, are significant to restore the trust of international parties which will be needed in the economic recovery phase. In case trust is restored, Lebanon will be back in the international financial markets and will be able to access funding that should be invested in income generating projects to cover the loan payments.
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