Lebanon’s economy is well known for its resilience. But the past couple of years have proven to be more testing than most. A combination of political instability, a civil war raging in neighbouring Syria, the region’s changing political and economic landscape in the aftermath of the Arab Spring, and the broader global financial crisis, have all taken their toll on the Lebanese economy.
The small Middle Eastern country experienced rapid growth in its gross domestic product (GDP) of about 8% in the four years until 2011, before slowing to just 2% in 2012, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which is forecasting a marginal improvement of 2% to 2.5% in 2013.
