Lebanon's budget deficit (including Treasury transactions) expanded 68% y/y to LBP 2.862tn (USD 1.9bn) in the first six months of the year as revenue shrank and spending increased, daily Al-akhbar reported on Sept 19, citing a statement by the finance ministry.
Total revenue dropped 4.3% y/y to LBP 7.318tn, whereas spending rose 8.9% to LBP 10.18tn. The primary budget surplus, excluding the cost of debt servicing, plummeted to LBP 25bn from LBP 1.164tn a year earlier. Excluding debt servicing, spending rose 12.6% y/y to LBP 7.293bn in H1.
Caretaker finance minister Mohammed Safadi has recently warned that the budget deficit would reach LBP 5.5tn by end-2013 and might expand further in 2014 if no measures were taken to boost revenue.
Custom proceeds fell 2.6% y/y to LBP 1.065tn in January-June and VAT income dropped 3.3% to LBP 1.619tn on weak tourism activity.
A weak real estate activity also reduced non-tax income by 12% y/y to LBP 1.486tn over the period.
Iraq is in the final stages of negotiating its first-ever purchase of LNG supplies as power outages hamper the Middle East country, Bloomberg reported on June 26. Dallas-headquartered Excelerate ... more
Sudan’s Sovereign Council head, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, issued a constitutional decree on May 19 appointing Kamil al-Tayeb Idris as the new prime minister, Al Sharq Al Awsat reported. He also ... more
Egypt's state-owned gas company EGAS has received several offers to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments urgently needed for summer, Al Sharq reported on May 18, citing an unnamed government ... more