Exploring Lebanon's Growth Prospects
Exploring Lebanon's Growth Prospects

Author: Charbel Nahas

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 32

ISBN-13:

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Abstract: This paper attempts to identify Lebanon's greatest constraints to economic growth, following a growth diagnosis approach. It concludes that fiscal imbalances and barriers to entry are most binding on long-term growth. Macroeconomic imbalances and related perceived risks affect the nature of investment decisions in Lebanon, in favor of liquid instruments rather than longer-term productive investments. Further, many barriers to entry discourage agents from investing in a number of markets: legal impediments to competition, corruption, and a set of fiscal incentives favoring the allocation of resources to non-tradable sectors, where potential demand and investment opportunities are scarcer. In turn, using a steady-state computable general equilibrium model, the paper assesses the long-term growth impact of a selected set of policy reforms envisaged to lift such constraints. Results suggest that 1 to 2 percentage points of additional GDP growth per year could be gained through public expenditure reform, greater domestic competition, and tax harmonization.

Exploring Lebanon's Growth Prospects
Exploring Lebanon's Growth Prospects

Author: Jean-Claude Berthelemy

Publisher:

Published: 2016

Total Pages: 32

ISBN-13:

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This paper attempts to identify Lebanon's greatest constraints to economic growth, following a growth diagnosis approach. It concludes that fiscal imbalances and barriers to entry are most binding on long-term growth. Macroeconomic imbalances and related perceived risks affect the nature of investment decisions in Lebanon, in favor of liquid instruments rather than longer-term productive investments. Further, many barriers to entry discourage agents from investing in a number of markets: legal impediments to competition, corruption, and a set of fiscal incentives favoring the allocation of resources to non-tradable sectors, where potential demand and investment opportunities are scarcer. In turn, using a steady-state computable general equilibrium model, the paper assesses the long-term growth impact of a selected set of policy reforms envisaged to lift such constraints. Results suggest that 1 to 2 percentage points of additional GDP growth per year could be gained through public expenditure reform, greater domestic competition, and tax harmonization.

Exploring Lebanon's Growth Prospects
Exploring Lebanon's Growth Prospects

Author: Weltbank

Publisher:

Published: 2013

Total Pages:

ISBN-13:

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This policy note reviews the current determinants of gross domestic product growth in Lebanon, and proposes a strategy to accelerate such growth in the years to come. Emigration and macro-economic trends will require urgent attention to foster growth. In the absence of job opportunities, half of each Lebanese generation eventually emigrates while another fourth stays idle. Lebanon's active population is aging, its human capital is eroding, and its resident population is aging. To reverse these trends, growth needs to be accelerated to meet Lebanese economic expectations. Reviewing various possible constraints, the note concludes that fiscal imbalances and barriers to entry are most binding to economic growth. A pro-growth strategy could be articulated around fiscal stabilization and reducing barriers to investment. If synonymous with structural reforms in the pension, civil service and energy sectors, fiscal stabilization could even bring significant growth rewards, which are estimated at 0.4-0.5 percentage points of additional real GDP growth per year.

The Future of Petroleum in Lebanon
The Future of Petroleum in Lebanon

Author: Sami Atallah

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2019-09-19

Total Pages: 376

ISBN-13: 1788318498

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What is the future of the oil and gas sector in Lebanon? Following the recent discovery of these valuable resources in the southern Mediterranean, including in the Cypriot and Israeli offshore reserves, the possibility of Lebanon also becoming a petroleum-producing country has been raised. This collection of essays addresses the major challenges and opportunities that accompany the country's hope to join the petroleum club. Covering the key policy issues - from Lebanon's susceptibility to the oil curse, to the environmental risks of production - this book brings together expert analysis to offer answers at the institutional level. Of central importance, the contributors argue, is that for Lebanon to benefit from the discovery of petroleum, it must first reform its institutions with the full support of the voting public and civil society. Combining rigorous quantitative and qualitative research, the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies has produced here an essential book that puts petroleum in Lebanon, and the important questions that come with it, within a global perspective.

The Middle East
The Middle East

Author: Barry Rubin

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2015-03-17

Total Pages: 1332

ISBN-13: 1317455770

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The Middle East is an area of great importance globally, yet misperceptions abound. Events have made it a region of special interest to the West and so the search for understanding gains momentum. This publication is intended to clarify the region’s complex history and issues. In developing this project, the contributors’ set out to explore seven significant themes that are usually not found in other sources. While many books focus on political history and conflicts, this two-volume work deals specifically with culture, religion, women, economics, governance, and media, as well as the role that the region’s modern history has played in shaping its society and worldview.

Money in the Middle East and North Africa
Money in the Middle East and North Africa

Author: David Cobham

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2010-12-07

Total Pages: 295

ISBN-13: 1136864164

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Building on the editors’ earlier book, Monetary Policy and Central Banking in the Middle East and North Africa, this book emphasises monetary policy strategies and frameworks. It fills an important gap providing multi-country and single-country studies on monetary policy in post-civil war Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, the Palestinian Territory and Turkey.

Private Sector and Enterprise Development
Private Sector and Enterprise Development

Author: Lois Stevenson

Publisher: IDRC

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 383

ISBN-13: 1849802955

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Examines the challenges to private sector growth in 12 Middle East and North African (MENA) countries, assessing comparative performance against a number of indicators and focusing on the special role of SMEs and entrepreneurial activity. Highlights the variation among countries in private sector dynamism and performance, the major government policy initiatives supporting private sector and SME activity in each country, and the perspectives of government officials, researchers, and other stakeholders on research, policy, and institutional capacity needs. Concludes with a framework for guiding a comprehensive set of policies and strategies to unleash the potential of entrepreneurship as a platform for future private sector growth.