Lebanese government revenues fell by nearly half in 2021, World Bank says

Lebanese government revenues fell by almost half in 2021. The country’s economic depression is caused by the country’s elite. The World Bank said in a press release on Tuesday, “ The economic depression has come to threaten the country’s long-term stability and social peace.”

The World Bank estimated the country's real gross domestic product (GDP) declined by 10.5 per cent.

The financial system of Lebanon collapsed in 2019 because of decades of corruption and waste in the state and the unsustainable way it was financed. The World Bank ranked the crisis as among the most severe globally since the mid-19th century. Lebanon was once seen as a wealthy and liberal outpost in the Middle East before the civil war broke out from 1975 to 1990.

World Bank Lebanon Economic Monitor Fall 2021 report

The World Bank Lebanon Economic Monitor Fall 2021 report cited that the country’s deliberate depression is orchestrated by the country’s elite that has long captured the state and lived off its economic rents. The report also categorised the crisis as the top three most severe economic collapses worldwide since the 1850s.

The country’s Gross Domestic Product reached 6.6 per cent in 2021, marking the third-lowest ratio globally after Somalia and Yemen. According to the report, gross debt is estimated to have reached 183% per cent of GDP in 2021, a ratio only exceeded by Japan, Sudan and Greece.

Saroj Kumar Jha, World Bank Mashreq Regional Director, said, “Deliberate denial during deliberate depression is creating long-lasting scars on the economy and society.”

Lebanon’s economic crisis deepened more after the tragic 2020 deadly Beirut port explosion. The economic crisis pushed more than half the population into poverty and hunger. The Beirut port explosion was caused by a large amount of ammonium nitrate stored unsafely for years.

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