07 October 2010
BEIRUT: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) released Wednesday its semi-annual “World Economic Outlook” as reported by Bank Audi’s Lebanon Weekly Monitor. The IMF asserted that “Lebanon continued to register strong growth through the recession supported by signs of political stability and strong capital inflows.” The Fund placed Lebanon’s real growth rate at 8 percent in 2010, nearly two times higher than that of the broad Middle East and North Africa region and extending the previous year’s buoyant performance (9 percent real growth rate in 2009), while forecasting a still healthy 5 percent real growth in 2011. The report indicates moderate price pressures in Lebanon as evidenced by a 5 percent average inflation rate in 2010 and a slightly lower 3.5 percent in 2011. Within the context of such solid economic performances, the IMF sees a continued decline in Lebanon’s sovereign indebtedness ratios this year, with the general government gross debt at 139 percent of gross domestic product in 2010 (137 percent in 2011), against 148 percent in 2009 and a much higher 180 percent in 2006. –The Daily Star
Copyright The Daily Star 2010.
