Lebanon”s growth 4 pct in 2007 despite crisis

 

Lebanon’s economy grew by about four percent last year despite a long-running political crisis and increased sectarian tensions, Finance Minister Jihad Azour said on Monday.

“The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will publish a report next week confirming that Lebanon saw a growth rate of close to four percent and an inflation rate of 4.4 percent in 2007,” Azour told AFP.

 

“The political situation weighed down the economy but could not bring it to a standstill,” he said.

 

In 2006, the Lebanese economy contracted by five percent and inflation shot up to 7.03 percent amid a devastating 34-day summer war with Israel.

 

“In 2007, we tried to remedy the effects of the war in 2006,”  Azour said.

 

“In spite of the battles in Nahr al-Bared and the assassinations, we were able to improve our financial standing,” he added, referring to an uprising by Islamist militants in a northern refugee camp and a series of killings of Lebanese opponents of neighbouring Syria.

 

The IMF report is also set to highlight a falling budget deficit and reduced levels of foreign debt, the minister added.

 

The costs of reconstruction after the 1975-91 civil war helped push Lebanon’s public debt to a massive 41.3 billion dollars in May last year.