Home » LEBANON BRIEF » Issue December 2018
To our Dearest Readers and Friends of BLOMInvest Bank: With our 2018 coming to an end, we at the Economic Research Dept. would love to Thank You for being loyal readers, active contributors, and friends of ... read more
The activity at Rafic Hariri International Airport improved during the first 11 months of 2018, where the total number of passengers rose by a yearly 8.51% to 8.26M. In fact, the number of arrivals to ... read more
Lebanon’s trade deficit in the first 10 months of the year 2018 stood at $14.41B, up by 3.98% from last year’s deficit. In details, the total value of imports gained an annual 4.02% to stand at $16.87B. ... read more
According to the Central Administration of Statistics (CAS), the Lebanese economy’s average inflation rate stood at 6.26% year-on-year (y-o-y) by November 2018 since the average Consumer Price Index (CPI) ... read more
The Lebanese carrier, Middle East Airlines has decided to sign a $300 million contract with British motor-maker Rolls-Royce for the installation of new Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engines in four new Airbus ... read more
According to the Lebanese Ministry of Industry, the total value of industrial exports during the first nine months of the year 2018 rose by 3.33% year-on-year (y-o-y) from $ 1.82B by September 2017 to ... read more
The economic slowdown continued to be reflected in the performance of the real estate sector. According to the data from the General Directorate of Land Registry and Cadastre (LRC), the number of RE ... read more
According to the Ministry of Finance, Lebanon’s fiscal deficit expanded from $2B by September 2017 to $4.50B by September 2018. In fact, fiscal revenues witnessed an annual increase of 3.16% to reach ... read more
According to the Orders of Engineers in Beirut and Tripoli, the number of construction permits decreased by 15.94% year-on-year (y-o-y) to stand at 12,842 permits by November 2018. The Construction Area ... read more
The General Assembly of BLC Bank held an extraordinary meeting on Dec. 17, 2018 at the bank’s headquarters and discussed the items below, knowing all decisions await the approval of the central bank (BDL): ... read more
The Revenues at the Port of Beirut (POB) witnessed a decline of 1.68% during the first 11 months of the year to reach $214.44M. Total container activity including transshipment (TEU+TS) rose by a yearly ... read more
According to the Association of Lebanese Car Importers (AIA), the total number of newly registered commercial and passenger cars continues to witness retreat as it shrunk by an annual 9.74% to stand ... read more
Despite the rise in the number of European tourists, the number of Gulf visitors, specifically Iraqi and Saudi incomers continues to fall which is negatively affecting the hotels’ occupancy Rate in ... read more
According to the Ministry of Finance, Lebanon’s gross public debt reached $84.02B by the tenth month of the year, adding an annual 7.07%. This increase is mainly owed to the rise in the foreign currency ... read more
According to the Association of Lebanese Banks (ABL), the value of cleared checks recorded a yearly decrease by 1.22% to reach $55.73 Billion (B) by October 2018. Likewise, the total number of cleared ... read more
According to Kafalat, the number of loan guarantees dropped from 520 guarantees by November 2017 to 300 guarantees by November 2018. The overall value of the guarantees lost 39.39% year-on-year (y-o-y) to ... read more
According to the Central Bank of Lebanon, the balance of payments recorded a deficit of $3.12B by October compared to a deficit of $1B by the same period last year. In fact, the NFAs of the Central Bank ... read more
The board of directors (BoD) of BLC invited the holders of its Preferred Shares “E” to an extraordinary general assembly scheduled to be held at the bank’s headquarters in Beirut on Monday December 17, ... read more
According to Lebanon’s commercial banks’ balance sheet, total assets witnessed an uprise of 10.35% year-to-date (y-t-d) to stand at $242.61B by October 2018. In details, deposits with BDL, constituting ... read more
The Central Bank’s (BDL’s) balance sheet posted a 19.05% year-to-date (y-t-d) increase in its total assets which stood at $140.78B by the end of November 2018. In details, BDL’s foreign assets ... read more
During the week ending December 13, Broad Money (M3) declined by a weekly LBP 132B ($88M) to stand at LBP 210,709B ($139.77B). On a yearly basis, M3 added 1.40% and marginally increased by 1.26% since the ... read more
The BLOM Stock Index (BSI) fell by 0.81% to reach 976.75 points over the last week. The market capitalization decreased from $9.60B last week to $9.52 B to this week. On average 1.06M of shares worth ... read more
Lebanese Forex Market. The Lebanese Pound steadied this week within the range of $/LP 1,514 – 1,514.5 against the dollar with a mid-price of $/LP 1,514.25. The peg continues to be supported by the ... read more
Lebanon’s BLOM Bond Index (BBI) slightly rose over the last week by 0.24% to close at 88.72 points. The yields on (5Y) and (10Y) Lebanese Eurobonds both declined, from 11.73 % last week to 10.70 % by the ... read more
lebanese Forex Market The Lebanese Pound steadied this week within the range of $/LP 1,514 – 1,514.5 against the dollar with a mid-price of $/LP 1,514.25. The peg continues to be supported by the ... read more
During the week ending December 06, Broad Money (M3) rose by a weekly LBP 197B ($131M) to stand at LBP 210,841B ($139.86M). On a yearly basis, M3 added 1.69% and marginally increased by 1.32% since the ... read more
The BLOM Stock Index (BSI) rose by 2.30% to reach 984.77 points over the last week. The market capitalization increased from $9.38B, last week, to $9.60B this week. On average of 112,497 shares worth ... read more
Lebanon’s BLOM Bond Index (BBI) rose over the last week by 3.17% to close at 88.67 points. The yields on (5Y) and (10Y) Lebanese Eurobonds increased by 48 basis points (bps) to 11.68% and by 33 basis ... read more
The BLOM Stock Index (BSI) rose by 0.29% to reach 962.64 points over the last week. The market capitalization increased from $9.35B, last week, to $9.38B this week. On average 74,399 shares worth 456,210 ... read more
Lebanese Forex Market The Lebanese Pound steadied this week within the range of $/LP 1,514 – 1,514.5 against the dollar with a mid-price of $/LP 1,514.25. The peg continues to be supported by the ... read more
During the week ending November 29, Broad Money (M3) fell by a weekly LBP 160B ($106M) to stand at LBP 210,645B ($139.73M). On a yearly basis, M3 added 1.74% and marginally increased by 1.23% since the ... read more
Lebanon’s BLOM Bond Index (BBI) increased over the last week by 0.10% to close at 85.94 points. The yields on (5Y) and (10Y) Lebanese Eurobonds moved in adverse sense. In fact the (5Y) Lebanese Eurobonds ... read more
The BLOM Stock Index (BSI) fell by 2.15% to reach 959.87 points over the last week, recording one of its lowest values for the past period. The market capitalization dropped from $9.56B, last week, to $ ... read more
During the week ending November 22, Broad Money (M3) rose by a weekly LBP 251B ($167M) to stand at LBP 210,805B ($139.84M). On a yearly basis, M3 added 1.56% and marginally increased by 1.30% since the ... read more
Lebanese Forex Market The Lebanese Pound steadied within the range of $/LP 1,514 – 1,514.5 against the dollar with a mid-price of $/LP 1,514.25. The peg continues to be supported by the Central ... read more
Lebanon’s BLOM Bond Index (BBI) declined over the last week by 0.12% to close at 85.85 points. The yields on (5Y) and (10Y) Lebanese Eurobonds witnessed variations in opposite sense. In fact the (5Y) ... read more
The BLOM Lebanon Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose from 46.2 in October 2018 to 46.7 in November 2018, on account of slower declines in output and new orders since February. Accordingly, the implied ... read more
The Great Recession epitomizes a period of extraordinary financial stress. The emergence and ignition of the financial crisis of 2007-2008 scarred the US economy and spilled over financial stress to the ... read more
According to the Central Administration of Statistics (CAS), Lebanon’s real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth witnessed a slowdown in 2017. Lebanon’s real GDP growth decelerated to 0.6% in 2017 to ... read more
This report appeared in the print edition of the Daily Star newspaper on December 07th 2018. https://www.dailystar.com.lb/Business/Local/2018/Dec-07/471120-better-understanding-of-how-you-pay-online.ashx ... read more
The Lebanese olive oil sector faces several challenges. Olive oil in Lebanon now has its own genomic imprint, yet traders and cooperatives are not willing to use it. Most probably in cheating in olive oil ... read more
A version of this article appeared in the Daily Star on Wednesday the 17th of October 2018. https://www.dailystar.com.lb/Business/Local/2018/Oct-17/466590-assessing-lebanons-economic-database.ashx It is ... read more
Abstract A lot of questions are being asked in these past few months on “where the Lebanese economy is headed; or how critical is it this time?”, given the prolonged political impasse still ongoing which ... 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