World bank downgrades Lebanon growth from 7 to 4%

The World Bank revised downward the projected 2011 economic growth in Lebanon from the initial January forecast of 7 Per cent to 4 percent

The average growth is 4.1 percent in the Middle East & North Africa.

The January forecast was made when the cabinet was headed by former PM Saad Hariri, but on January 12 Hezbollah and and its March 8 allies brought down Hariri’s cabinet .PM Najib Mikati heads the new cabinet which is completely dominated by Hezbollah and its allies.

The World Bank also forecast Lebanon’s fiscal balance would post a deficit of 5.5 percent of gross domestic product in 2011

Compare this to an average surplus of 1.4 percent of GDP for the Middle East and North Africa.

Earlier this month , the International Monetary Fund has also revised downward economic growth for Lebanon from 7 to 2.5 percent for 2011.

This compares with an economic boom in recent years that saw Lebanon witness a record 7.5 percent growth in 2010.

Lebanon is relatively one of the most heavily indebted nations with a current public debt of more than 53 billion dollars (38.8 billion euros), which represents 135 percent of the country’s GDP.