BEIRUT, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) projected on Tuesday Lebanon's real GDP to retreat by 25 percent in 2020, the first double-digit contraction of the Lebanese economy since 1989.
According to the IMF, the contraction is attributed to the sovereign debt default in March 2020, the widening spread between the official and black market exchange rates that exceeded 70 percent, foreign currency shortages, the Beirut port's explosions as well as the subsequent resignation of the government, as reported by Byblos Bank's Lebanon This Week.
The IMF also noted that the economic contraction in Lebanon this year would be the third steepest globally after Libya and Macao.
It anticipated real GDP to shrink by 5 percent for the Middle East and North Africa region, by 3.3 percent in emerging and developing economies and by 4.4 percent for the global economy in 2020. Enditem
