<hdr>The World Factbook 1994: Lebanon<nl>Economy</hdr><body>
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<item><hi format=bold>Overview:</hi> Since 1975 civil war has seriously damaged Lebanon's economic infrastructure, cut national output by half, and all but ended Lebanon's position as a Middle Eastern entrepot and banking hub. Following October 1990, however, a tentative peace has enabled the central government to begin restoring control in Beirut, collect taxes, and regain access to key port and government facilities. The battered economy has also been propped up by a financially sound banking system and resilient small- and medium-scale manufacturers. Family remittances, banking transactions, manufactured and farm exports, the narcotics trade, and international emergency aid are the main sources of foreign exchange. In the relatively settled year of 1991, industrial production, agricultural output, and exports showed substantial gains. The further rebuilding of the war-ravaged country was delayed in 1992 because of an upturn in political wrangling. In October 1992, Rafiq HARIRI was appointed Prime Minister. HARIRI, a wealthy entrepreneur, has announced ambitious plans for Lebanon's reconstruction which involve a substantial influx of foreign aid and investment. Progress on restoring basic services is limited. Since Prime Minister HARIRI's appointment, the most significant improvement lies in the stabilization of the Lebanese pound, which had gained over 30% in value by yearend 1993. The year 1993 was marked by efforts of the new administration to encourage domestic and foreign investment and to obtain additional international assistance.
<item>• <hi format=ital>revenues:</hi> $990 million
<item>• <hi format=ital>expenditures:</hi> $1.98 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1993 est.)
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<item><hi format=bold>Exports:</hi> $925 million (f.o.b., 1993 est.)
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<item>• <hi format=ital>commodities:</hi> agricultural products, chemicals, textiles, precious and semiprecious metals and jewelry, metals and metal products
<item>• <hi format=ital>partners:</hi> Saudi Arabia 21%, Switzerland 9.5%, Jordan 6%, Kuwait 12%, US 5%
<item>• <hi format=ital>consumption per capita:</hi> 990 kWh (1992)
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<item><hi format=bold>Industries:</hi> banking, food processing, textiles, cement, oil refining, chemicals, jewelry, some metal fabricating
<item><hi format=bold>Agriculture:</hi> accounts for about one-third of GDP; principal products—citrus fruits, vegetables, potatoes, olives, tobacco, hemp (hashish), sheep, goats; not self-sufficient in grain
<item><hi format=bold>Illicit drugs:</hi> illicit producer of hashish and heroin for the international drug trade; hashish production is shipped to Western Europe, the Middle East, and North and South America; increasingly a key locus of cocaine processing and trafficking
<item><hi format=bold>Economic aid:</hi> aid for Lebanon's reconstruction programs currently totals $1.3 billion since October 1992, including a $175 million loan from the World Bank
