Syria’s economy is in a tailspin, and the regime of President Bashar al-Assad is increasingly struggling to find resources to quash the four-year-old rebellion, analysts say. The government has had to scale back subsidies for citizens for goods ranging from water to heating oil over the last six months. That has angered Syrians, who already […]
Lebanon expects 2011 GDP growth of 5%
Lebanon’s real GDP will grow 5 percent in 2011 while inflation is expected to drop to 2.8 percent by the end of that year, according to draft budget figures released by the finance ministry on Wednesday. Finance Minister Raya al-Hassan ( pictured) said the 2011 budget projects GDP at around $40 billion, of which $3.8 […]
IMF: Lebanon GDP Could Grow By 8% In 2010
Lebanon could see its gross domestic product grow by 8% or more this year, the International Monetary Fund said Tuesday.
What Did We Have the Civil War for?
By Ghassan Karam
Civil conflicts are not exactly uncommon in this world. There is hardly a nation state that has not had to overcome a major civil conflict as it was becoming established. In a sense, it appears that civil strife is a right of passage of some sort.
Money Illusion
By Ghassan Karam
The level of welfare of societies and even individuals should not be measured in purely monetary terms. This is not a proposition to be questioned since there are many other aspects that play a major role in determining the level of welfare.
S&P upgrades Lebanon credit rating
Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services raised Lebanon’s sovereign-credit ratings and gave them a positive outlook because of banking resilience and the expectation of political stability in the medium term. Over three years of political flux, Lebanon’s public finances and especially its banking system remained resilient, according to S&P. In addition, the new party consensus improves […]