urance companies are returning. The
government nonetheless faces serious challenges in the economic arena.
It has had to fund reconstruction by tapping foreign exchange reserves
and boosting borrowing. Reducing the government budget deficit is a
major goal of the LAHUD government. The stalled peace process and
ongoing violence in southern Lebanon could lead to wider hostilities
that would disrupt vital capital inflows. Furthermore, the gap between
rich and poor has widened in the 1990's, resulting in grassroots
dissatisfaction over the skewed distribution of the reconstruction's
benefits and leading the government to shift its focus from rebuilding
infrastructure to improving living conditions.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $16.2 billion (1999 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 1% (1999 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $4,500 (1999 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 12%
industry: 27%
services: 61% (1998 est.)

Population below poverty line: 28% (1999 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 4.5% (1999 est.)

Labor force: 1.3 million (1999 est.)
note: in addition, there are as many as 1 million foreign workers
(1997 est.)

Labor force - by occupation: services 62%, industry 31%, agriculture
7% (1997 est.)

Unemployment rate: 18% (1997 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $4.9 billion
expenditures: $8.36 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA
(1999 est.)

Industries: banking; food processing; jewelry; cement; textiles;
mineral and chemical products; wood and furniture products; oil
refining; metal fabricating

Industrial production growth rate: NA%

Electricity - production: 9.7 billion kWh (1998)

Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 90.72%
hydro: 9.28%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (1998)

Electricity - consumption: 9.629 billion kWh (1998)

Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (1998)

Electricity - imports: 608 million kWh (1998)

Agriculture - products: citrus, grapes, tomatoes, apples, vegetables,
potatoes, olives, tobacco; sheep, goats

Exports: $866 million (f.o.b., 1999 est.)

Exports - commodities: foodstuffs and tobacco, textiles, chemicals,
metal and metal products, electrical equipment and products, jewelry,
paper and paper products

Exports - partners: Saudi Arabia 12%, UAE 10%, France 9%, Syria 7%, US
7%, Kuwait 4%, Jordan, Turkey (1998)

Imports: $5.7 billion (