icultural output, and exports showed
substantial gains. The rebuilding of the war-ravaged country was
delayed in 1992 because of an upturn in political wrangling. In
October 1992, Rafiq al-HARIRI was appointed prime minister. A
billionaire entrepreneur, al-HARIRI, announced ambitious plans for
Lebanon's reconstruction, which involve a substantial influx of
foreign aid and investment. The economy has posted considerable
gains since 1992, with GDP rebounding, inflation falling, and
foreign capital inflows jumping. Signs of strain have emerged in
recent years, however, as the government budget deficit has risen
and grassroots economic dissatisfaction has grown. Meantime, the
future fate of Lebanon and its economy is being determined largely
by outside forces - in Syria, other Arab nations, Israel, and the
West.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $18.3 billion (1995 est.)

GDP real growth rate: 6.5% (1995 est.)

GDP per capita: $4,900 (1995 est.)

GDP composition by sector:
agriculture: 13%
industry: 28%
services: 59% (1995 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 9% (1995 est.)

Labor force: 650,000
by occupation: services 60%, industry 28%, agriculture 12% (1990
est.)

Unemployment rate: 30% (1995 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $1.4 billion
expenditures: $3.2 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA
(1994 est.)

Industries: banking, food processing, textiles, cement, oil
refining, chemicals, jewelry, some metal fabricating

Industrial production growth rate: NA%

Electricity:
capacity: 1,220,000 kW
production: 2.5 billion kWh
consumption per capita: 676 kWh (1993)

Agriculture: citrus, vegetables, potatoes, olives, tobacco, hemp
(hashish); sheep, goats

Illicit drugs: 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; a key locus of
cocaine processing and trafficking; a Lebanese/Syrian 1994
eradication campaign practically eliminated the opium crop and
caused a 50% decrease in the cannabis crop

Exports: $1 billion (f.o.b., 1995 est.)
commodities: agricultural products, chemicals, textiles, precious
and semiprecious metals and jewelry, metals and metal products
partners: Saudi Arabia 13%, Switzerland 12%, UAE 11%, Syria 9%, US 5%

Imports: $7.3 billion (c.i.f., 1995 est.)
commodities: consumer goods, machinery and