World Bank: Lebanon’s Economy Still Contracting but At Slower Pace

Real Gross Domestic Product [GDP] - a measure of the total value of a country's economy - in the tiny Mediterranean nation is set to contract by 5.4% in 2022 amid political paralysis and delays in implementing an economic recovery plan.

The World Bank said it had revised its estimate for Lebanon's economic contraction in 2021 to 7% from a previous estimate of 10.4%.

Its estimate for 2020 remained unchanged at 21.4%.

Lebanon currently has no president and no fully-empowered government, an unprecedented institutional void that observers say could take months to resolve.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said that the country could still finalize a deal with the International Monetary Fund for a $3 billion program via parliament.

But the World Bank said such a deal remained unlikely some seven months after Beirut reached a staff-level agreement with the lender of last resort.