Fiscal deficit
up by 30 percent

Decline in both revenues and expenditures

The public fiscal deficit widened by almost 30 percent to $3.95 billion in 2015, according to the Ministry of Finance (MoF).

The primary surplus fell by 45 percent to $724.6 million. The primary surplus is the deficit without factoring debt service.

Total revenues decreased by 7.5 percent to $9 billion, while total expenditure narrowed by 2.1 percent to $12 billion

Transfers to Electricité du Liban (EDL) plunged by $957 million or 46 percent, due to lower oil prices.

Transfers to the Treasury from telecom revenues plummeted by $779 million, which represented a 39 percent drop compared with 2014. A source at the Ministry of Telecommunications (MoT) said that the decline did not reflect a decrease in telecom revenues. The source attributed the decline in transfers to the fact that in 2014 MoT transferred additional amounts that were already frozen in its account at the Central Bank and that included the municipalities’ share in mobile revenues.