Lebanon 9-Month Budget Deficit Narrows on Decline in Electricity Subsidies
Lebanon’s budget deficit narrowed to 3 trillion Lebanese pounds ($2 billion) in the first nine months as the government spent less on subsidizing its main electricity generating company.
The deficit shrank from 3.35 trillion pounds in the same period last year, the Ministry of Finance said in an e-mailed report today.
The government spent 492.6 billion pounds less on subsidies for Electricite du Liban, which provides more than 90 percent of the country’s electricity, the ministry said.
Lebanon had a budget deficit of 4.46 trillion pounds last year and a 4.4 trillion-pound shortfall in 2008, averaging about 9.7 percent of gross domestic product.
To contact the reporter on this story: Massoud A. Derhally in Beirut, Lebanon at mderhally@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Peter Hirschberg at phirschberg@bloomberg.net.
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