Palestinian refugees number 175,000. Census reveals 45 percent live in camps

The number of Palestinian refugees resident in Lebanon is officially 174,422 individuals, according to a census held by the Lebanese Palestinian Dialogue Committee (LPDC).

The count is the first of its kind and is the result of the Cabinet's desire to reach accurate figures. It also reveals household conditions surrounding housing, families, and individuals.

The study was a result of a combined project between the Central Administration of Statistics (CAS) representing the Cabine...

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Kesrouan to get another highway. 19-kilometer stretch will link Dbayeh to Okaibeh

The Cabinet approved the plans for a new highway linking villages and towns in coastal Kesrouan. The goal is to reduce traffic congestion.

The highway has a length of 19 kilometers. "It starts at Dbayeh and reaches Okaibeh passing through Jeita, Aintoura, Ain el Rihaneh, and Adma," said Antoun Souaid, advisor to the President for Engineering Affairs.

The highway will include eight kilometers of tunnels and 5.4 kilometers of bridges and overpasses.

The methods of finance for ...

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Beirut Chamber sees stable exports. Value of goods per tonnage rose sharply

The Chamber of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture in Beirut and Mount Lebanon reported a small growth in 'real exports' in the first six months of the year compared to 2016. The tonnage of exports however shot up 36 percent.

Real exports exclude mineral products, gold, pearls and precious and semi-precious stones.

In terms of value, the Chamber issued certificates of origin for exports worth $1.4 billion, up four percent from the first six months of last year.

The price of ...

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One bid received for gas exploration. Years required for commercial return

The Ministry of Energy and Water (MoEW) announced that only one consortium submitted two bids for offshore gas exploration.

The bidding procedure set by the Lebanese Petroleum Administration (LPA) requires a minimum of three companies to establish a joint venture, with at least one operator.

LPA announced that only one consortium participated in the
process. It will be led by the French operator Total, while the other non-operating partners are the Italian firm Eni Internationa...

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Parliament ratifies the tax law for the second time. VAT increased again to 11 percent

Parliament has approved the tax law that aims to finance a pay rise for public servants for the second time. The law was previously revoked by the Constitutional Council and was returned to Parliament.

The lawmakers again raised Value Added Tax (VAT) to 11 percent from ten percent, as they did in the previous ratification.

The approved taxes include new fees on imported alcoholic drinks, phone bills, tobacco, real estate contracts, and the lottery. The MPs also approved the impos...

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Chamber of Commerce represented in Cyprus. A platform to help investors

The Chamber of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture in Beirut and Mount Lebanon (CCIAB) has opened a representative office in the Lebanese Business Center in Cyprus named 'Cedars Pavilion'.

Comed Cyprus, owned by George Moufarrej, is the company behind the center. The center will be a platform which introduces investors from both countries to one other and to feasible projects.

Mohammad Choucair, Chairman of CCIAB, said: "Economic relations between both countries are growing rapidl...

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Unemployment in Tripoli is at nine percent. Potential jobs through support of SMEs and startups

The working age population in the North is estimated at 610,000 individuals, of which 53 percent are inactive, leaving a total labor force of 289,000, according to the World Bank report "Jobs for North Lebanon", issued this week.

Within the participating labor force, 20 percent are employers and 22 percent are self-employed, both are largely informal. Just 49 percent of the labor force receive a standard wage and of those, only 15 percent are formal wage workers. The remaining nine perce...

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Balance of payments deficit in first six months. Reaches $1.12 billion, reserves exceed $3 billion

The deficit in the balance of payments (BoP) reached $1.12 billion in the first half of 2017, decreasing 37 percent compared with the same period last year, according to the Central Bank (BDL).

The deficit has triggered an operation by BDL to replenish its reserves, which exceeded $3 billion. The proceeds of this operation are expected to be reflected in July and subsequent months.

The full year of 2016 registered a surplus of $1.24 billion after BDL carried out financial engineer...

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Tourists tax-free spending is up. Fashion and clothing top the list

Tax-free spending has grown six percent in the first half of the year compared to the same period last year, according to the Global Blue report 'Insights into Tourist Spending' for the first semester.

Joe Yaacoub, Head of Commercial Lebanon at Global Blue, said: "It is the first year in four years that we started to recover. This is because Saudis and Kuwaitis have returned to the country."

The number of tourists also grew 14 percent in the same period reaching 826,129 visitors, ...

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More power supply to be added this month. Plans to build Jiyeh plant with 500 MW capacities

Jiyeh power plant will be officially launched on July 2 by the Ministry of Energy and Water (MoEW). The plant has been in trial operation since a few weeks.

Danish firm 'Burmeister and Wain Scandinavian Contractor' (BWSC) in a joint venture with the German firm MAN is the project's contractor. It conducted testing and commissioning works to link the new plant to the grid.

Construction of the plant had begun in 2013, and has been built and ready for use since July 2015. Problems b...

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$150 million aid to improve healthcare sector. World Bank and IDB funding the project

The World Bank and the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) will provide the Ministry of Public Health with $150 million aid. This is in support of the healthcare system that is being burdened by the influx of Syrian refugees.

The World Bank has contributed $120 million and the IDB $30 million.

Around 30 percent of the amount will take the form of a grant. The remainder will be provided as a low-interest loan paid within 30 years after a seven-year grace period.

Minister of Pu...

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Huawei Lebanon wins telecom contract. Work to start late August

The Ministry of Telecom announced Huawei Lebanon has won the bid to replace time-division-multiplexing (TDM) switches installed in 1994 with the new advanced telephony IP Multimedia Core Network Subsystem (IMS). The value of the winning bid is $12 million.

IMS is an architectural framework for delivering IP multimedia services.

The project is meant to add 200,000 phone landlines that the market needs. The present bid is the first of a three-phase process that is necessary to achie...

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Treasury notes issued to private hospitals. Arrears valued at $1.1 billion

The Ministry of Finance (MoF) has issued $80 million treasury notes to cover some of the arrears owed to private hospitals for the period 2000-2011. The arrears represent money owed by the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), which has accumulated over the 12 years whenever the ministry exceeded the yearly financial ceiling it had set with hospitals.

Sleiman Haroun, Chairman of the Syndicate of Private Hospitals, said: "This amount does not cover all the arrears of the MoPH, which is $120 m...

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16 dumping complaints from different sub-sectors. Protective measures being requested

The Association of Lebanese Industrialists (ALI) has filed 16 dumping complaints to the Ministries of Industry, Economy and Trade, Council of Higher Customs, Finance, and Foreign Affairs.

The complaints relate to metal pipes, flour, berghol, confectionaries, pasta, dairy products, biscuits, marble tiles, cornflakes, foie gras, profiled aluminum, detergents, paper, sanitary products, poultry, and hunting pellets. Other companies are also preparing complaint files, mainly relating to the f...

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Export subsidy program renewed. IDAL asked to add Iraq to export destinations

The Council of Ministers extended for an additional year the maritime transport export subsidy program managed through Investment Development Authority (IDAL).

The $14 million program expired in March. IDAL is the public entity responsible for the disbursement process.

Exporters use the program to send their products through two ports, Aqaba in Jordan, and Duba, in Saudi Arabia. IDAL requested adding Iraq to export destinations.

A year after the export program was approved,...

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Life insurance to be taxed at ten percent. Decision needs more clarification according to insurance association

The Ministry of Finance has issued a decision to tax profits and revenues from life policies. The tax is set at ten percent.

The tax should be paid one month following profit registration or distribution. The decision does not include heirs of the policyholder. Heirs are subject to an accession tax.

Carla Abdo, Chairperson of the Life Committee at the Association of Insurance Companies (ACAL), said: "This decision is unclear and might create problems between the tax administration ...

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GDP growth to accelerate to 2.5 percent this year. Fiscal and current account deficits to remain sizable

The World Bank has projected an improvement in economic growth this year, but expects fiscal and current account deficits to remain elevated.

Real GDP growth is expected to improve to 2.5 percent in 2017, provided the country does not revert to political stalemate, according to the spring issue of the World Bank's Lebanon Economic Monitor.

The factors triggering the projected growth include the progress made in domestic politics, the continued revival of the tourism sector, and...

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Campaign to lure tourists is launched. 150 international tourism companies to visit the country next month

Representatives from 150 travel and tourism companies visiting the country next month will be introduced to local hospitality players. The visitors will participate in a forum that will be held on May 24, at Le Royal, Dbayeh, where 50 local travel and tourism companies will introduce their services, and have face-to-face business meetings.

Wadih Kanaan, General Secretary of the Syndicate of Hotel Owners, said: "More than 800 international companies submitted applications to participate in...

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$2 billion available from China Silk Road. Funds await proposals from government

The Silk Road Chamber for International Commerce (SRCIC) is ready to grant $2 billion in loans with low interest rates to the local market, according to Adnan Kassar, Chairman of the Economic Bodies and the founding father of Lebanese-Chinese relations.

"Tapping these funds is strictly tied with the government's ability to put forth economic projects with benefit to the road," Kassar, who is also the honorary Chairman of the SRCIC, said.

The allocation is part of a $5 billion Silk...

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$1.2 billion invested in hospitality last year. Seven percent direct contribution to GDP

The direct contribution of travel and tourism to GDP in 2016 was seven percent, at $3.3 billion, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC). The contribution reflects the economic activity generated by subsectors such as hotels, travel agents, airlines and other passenger transportation. The sector's turnover decreased eight percent compared to 2015.

Pierre Achkar, Chairman of the Syndicate of Hotels Owners, said: "Touristic institutions launched several offers and reduced ...

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Spending by Gulf tourists down 15 percent in ten years. More visitors from low-spending nationalities

Spending distribution for tourists from the KSA, the UAE, Kuwait, and Qatar reached 51 percent of the total number of tourist spending in 2009. This percentage lost 15 percentage points during the last ten years, registering the lowest percentage last year (36 percent), according to the Global Blue report: 'Ten Years in Review in Spending Behavior for Tourist from: Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Qatar.'

The report aims to explain the position of these market segments in te...

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National Accounts: GDP at $49.4 billion in 2015. Real growth rate 0.8 percent

GDP was calculated at $49.4 billion in 2015, up from $47.8 billion for 2014, according to the National Accounts 2004-2015 report published by the Central Administration for Statistics (CAS).

The figures are slightly lower than estimates by the International Monetary Fund (IMF): $50.8 billion for 2015, and $49.9 billion for 2014.

According to the CAS report, Real GDP growth continued to slow down over the 2012-2015 period. It fell from 2.8 percent in 2012, to 2.6 percent in 2013, ...

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Industrial production reported at $8.8 billion. Industrial indicators launched

The Association of Lebanese Industrialists (ALI) has launched the Industrial Indicators, based on data collected from the Ministry of Finance. The indicators include number of establishments, workforce, local and exported sales, net revenues from the sector, raw materials, and net cost of industry.

According to the indicators, industrial production volume reached $8.8 billion in 2015, decreasing from $10.5 billion in 2012.

The number of industrial establishments reached 1,977 down...

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Retail activity continues to slip. Sales in six out of nine categories decreased in 2016

Retail sales fell one percent in 2016 compared to 2015, according to the Retail Sales Index by the Lebanese Franchise Association (LFA) and Chamber of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture in Beirut and Mount Lebanon (CCIA-BML).

Albert Khoury, whose company prepared the statistics, said: "This confirms the fact that the retail activity's minimal rates of improvement witnessed in 2015 have failed to create recovery momentum in 2016."

The overall retail sales index for 2016 remained te...

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Fiscal deficit up to near $5 billion. Primary surplus almost zero

The fiscal deficit widened by close to $1 billion (25 percent) to reach $4.94 billion in 2016 compared to 2015. The increase is attributed to arrears paid to municipalities, as well as an escalating debt service.

The budget deficit widened by 24 percent to $3.67 billion, while the treasury deficit escalated by 30 percent to $1.28 billion, according to data released by the Ministry of Finance. The total primary surplus narrowed by 97 percent from $724 million to just $21 million.

On...

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$200 million for roads from the World Bank. Funds to repair 500 km in first phase

The World Bank Group has allocated $200 million for upgrading the road network.

The funds will be used to repair around 500 kilometers of roads in a first phase of a $510 million government plan to revamp the country's road sector.

The funds include a $45 million grant from the Bank-administered Concessional Financing Facility (CFF), which is a facility created in 2016 to support middle-income countries that were recipients of regular Bank financing, but are currently experiencing...

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$83 million surplus in NSSF’s 2016 budget. Increase in subscribers, decrease in pharmaceutical prices

The National Social Security Fund (NSSF) achieved a surplus of $83 million in 2016, up 85 percent compared to 2015.

Revenues from the family compensation fund reached $303 million last year, increasing 3.6 compared to 2015. Expenditures on this department reached $240 million registering four percent increase compared to 2015.

Surplus in this fund reached $60 million, increasing 6.5 percent compared to the year 2015.

Revenues from the sick and maternity fund were $760 mill...

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Health coverage law for retired NSSF subscribers. Retired employees to continue paying nine percent of the minimum wage

The Parliament has enacted the health coverage law for the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) for retirees over the age of 64.

Walid Khoury, Member of the Parliamentary Committee for Health, said that the law will be referred to the Council of Ministers to issue the related executive decrees.

The law stipulates that NSSF retirees will continue to benefit from 20 years of health coverage after the age of 64. The family of those covered will also benefit even if the insured perso...

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Rental law modified by Parliament. Changes to fund’s legal structure, includes more beneficiaries

Parliament has ratified modifications to the rental law. The original rental law went into force in 2014.

The ratification has produced two main modifications: The fair lease value of apartments has been reduced from five to four percent of an apartment's value. The second one relates to the legal structure of the assistance fund that subsidizes old rent tenants by paying the difference between the old and new rental cost.

Adib Zakhour, Head of the Committee appealing the rent law...

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Beirut Port revenues drop six percent. Regional transshipment suffered from security issues

Port of Beirut (PoB) and Port of Tripoli (PoT), have made $254 million in revenues in 2016, constituting a six percent decrease from the previous year for POB.

According to the latest PoB statistics, transshipment has fallen 12 percent to 292,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent containers).

Elie Zakhour, Chairman of the International Chamber of Navigation, said: "The countries for which we are a transshipment hub, like Syria, Turkey, and Greece, continue to witness either economic o...

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