Lebanon: Selected Issues
IMF Staff Country Reports, January 24, 2017
Source details
- Canonical URL
- Lebanon: Selected Issues
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Bibliographic details
- Published: January 24, 2017
- Series: IMF Staff Country Reports
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781475570625.002
Executive summary and main findings
- The paper analyzes the impact of the Syrian crisis on Lebanon’s economy.
- Output growth in Lebanon has "fallen sharply since the onset of the Syrian crisis" and is "too low to accommodate new job seekers, or to address the needs of Lebanon’s more vulnerable population."
- Low growth is adversely affecting public debt dynamics, "raising the prospect of higher borrowing costs and constrained social and investment spending."
- The authorities have presented "an ambitious proposal to the international community," centered on "a multiyear effort to stimulate growth and employment through a targeted series of investment initiatives."
Thematic coverage (subjects and keywords)
- Subject headings: Balance of payments, Labor, Labor markets, Oil prices, Remittances, Revenue administration, Revenue performance assessment, Tax gap, Taxes, Value-added tax
- Keywords: capital stock, compliance gap, CR, GDP, Global, investment climate, ISCR, knowledge economy sector, Labor markets, Lebanon, remittance, remittance channel, Remittances, remittances inflow, Tax gap, Value-added tax, VAT
Policy emphasis and proposals noted
- Authorities’ proposal: a multiyear effort to stimulate growth and employment through a targeted series of investment initiatives.
- Policy implications highlighted by the analysis:
- Need to raise growth to accommodate new job seekers and address needs of vulnerable populations.
- Importance of stabilizing public debt dynamics to avoid higher borrowing costs.
- Risk that constrained social and investment spending will undermine efforts to improve the quality and productivity of public spending.
International Monetary Fund. Middle East and Central Asia Dept. "Lebanon: Selected Issues", IMF Staff Country Reports 2017, 020 (2017), accessed 9/23/2026, https://doi.org/10.5089/9781475570625.002
Content in this bundle
- Country Report