Ливан экономикасы: дағдарыс, қарыз және құлдырау

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| aid = recipient $5.4 billion (2014 est.) | reserves = $55.42 billion (31 December 2017 est.) including a banking collapse, the Lebanese liquidity crisis and a sovereign default. It is classified as a developing, lower middle income economy. The nominal GDP was estimated at $19 billion in 2020, or 23% of GDP. The Lebanese economy went through a significant expansion after the 34 day war of 2006, with growth averaging 9.1% between 2007 and 2010. After 2011 the local economy was affected by the Syrian civil war, growing by a yearly average of 1.7% on the 2011–2016 period and by 1.5% in 2017. Between 2019 and 2021, the economy shrank by 53.4%, the highest contraction in a list of 193 countries. Since 2020, the International Monetary Fund no longer publish data on the Lebanese economy. Lebanon is the third highest indebted country in the world in terms of debt to GDP ratio. As a consequence, interest payments consumed 48% of domestic government revenues in 2016, thus limiting the government's ability to make needed investments in infrastructure and other public goods. The Lebanese economy is service oriented. Lebanon has a strong tradition of laissez faire, with the country's constitution stating that "the economic system is free and ensures private initiative and the right to private property". The major economic sectors include metal products, banking, agriculture, chemicals, and transport equipment. The main growth sectors include banking and tourism. There are no restrictions on foreign exchange or capital movement.

According to a World Bank report, Lebanon's economy which was structurally strained before the Syrian shock suffered a real blow as an aftermath of the Syrian crisis which brought around 1.5 million Syrian refugees into Lebanon. The GDP growth rate declined to around 1 percent in 2018. In August 2019, the USD parallel exchange rate started changing from the official exchange rate; the official exchange rate for the USD had been £L1,507.5 since 1997, while the parallel exchange rate was £L1,600 in the fall of 2019 and would increase to around £L4,200 in May 2020. The USD parallel exchange rate is increasing because of the dollar shortage in Lebanon. In a bid to lower the dollar price, the central bank made an agreement with the licensed exchangers to make the official rates on offer at £L3,860/3,910. However, despite the central bank's efforts, on 23 June 2020, the black market dollar reached a staggering rate of £L 6,075 devaluing the Lebanese pound by 75%. This dollar shortage also caused 785 restaurants and cafes to close between September 2019 and February 2020 and caused 25,000 employees to lose their jobs. This economic crisis made Lebanon's gross domestic product fall to about $44 billion, which was about $55 billion the year before. The crisis became worse when the COVID 19 pandemic affected the Lebanese economy. In 2020, the country defaulted for the first time on $30 billion in bonds and tried to seek help from the IMF but the negotiations never reached fruition. The liquidity crisis also lead to a restriction on the withdrawals from US dollar bank accounts. Depositors needed to preserve the value of their savings, especially following press reports about possible haircuts and restructuring of the banking sector. They therefore turned to buying real estate. For example, revenues from land sales of the major real estate developer, Solidere company, soared from nearly $1.3 million to $234.5 million. Also, these depositors turned to buying shares in Solidere company, which lead to a rise of 500% in its price between the start of the liquidity crisis and April 2021. The already battered economy of Lebanon suffered fresh blow with the port blast on 4 August 2020. Economists have claimed that the blasts could result in the contraction of Beirut's GDP by around 20–25% for the year. The current figure surpasses IMF's last forecast of 12% crash in GDP because of the ongoing and increasing economic and political crisis in Lebanon. In March 2021, Lebanon approved an emergency assistance package from the World Bank worth $246 million in order to support struggling families and strengthen the social safety and try to face the economic crisis. On March 16, as the Lebanese pound jumped on the black market from £L13,000 to £L15,000 against the US dollar, protesters took to the streets, grocery stores closed and bakeries threatened to close. After the meeting of the President Aoun and Prime Minister designate Saad Hariri on March 18, the Lebanese pound dropped from £L15,000 against the dollar on the black market to £L12,500. As of 2023, Lebanon is considered by some to have become a failed state, suffering from chronic poverty, economic mismanagement and a banking collapse.

After the civil war, the Lebanese government resorted to massive borrowing to finance its post war restructuring. The yearly growth of gross debt between 1993 and 1995 was 123 percent and between 1995 and 2000 was 171 percent. Between 2005 and 2018, the yearly growth of debt has averaged around 22 percent and in comparison, the GDP growth rate for the same period has been in single digits with an exception of 2009. This high debt has caused Lebanon to spend a big chunk of its revenues in debt servicing, on an average, close to 45 percent is spent by the government as interest payments. In 1996, interest payments made up almost 68 percent of that year's budget deficit. With debt piling up and growth being minuscule, Lebanon's debt to GDP ratio reached 178 percent by the end of 2019, which makes it the third most indebted country after Greece and Japan. In 2020, Beirut defaulted on a $1.2 billion external bond, the first sovereign default since in its history. The nation is currently in discussions with a group of creditors about a possible restructuring of a defaulted Eurobond. A successful restructuring would allow the country to again access external credit markets.

Lebanon's national currency, the Lebanese pound is pegged to the US dollar at £L15,000 to US$1. This fixed rate has been unstable due to the depreciating value of the pound in the black market. According to reports, the pound was trading at £L8,100 to US$1 in 2019 on the black market. The causes of the pound's depreciation can be traced back to the economy's dependence on imports. Lebanon in 2018 imported US$20 bn worth of goods and exported goods worth only US$3 bn. In November 2019, The central bank of Lebanon was accused of running a Ponzi scheme as it relied on fresh borrowing to service its debt. The bank denied the allegations stating that its action was in par with the 1963 Code of Money and Credit. Amidst the failing banking system, banks resorted to putting informal curbs on dollar withdrawals and international transfers, stirring mass protests and police violence. The pandemic brought the protests to a halt for some time but the port explosion in Beirut once again brought people to the streets, who, as reports state, have lost faith in the political elite. worth of goods and services, and exported $2.8 billion. Lebanon has a competitive and free market regime and a strong laissez faire commercial tradition. The Lebanese economy is service oriented; main growth sectors include banking and tourism. There are no restrictions on foreign exchange or capital movement.

Food accounted for 18% of the dollar value of the imports to Lebanon in 2018, according to World Bank statistics. Wheat and livestock are two foodstuffs for which Lebanon is import dependent. On the other hand, domestic audiences are told that the country is almost self sufficient in food:
Overall, Lebanon is self sufficient in the production of fruits, and almost self sufficient with regards to the production of vegetables. Self sufficiency indexes reach up to 200% for bananas, citrus, and apples. However, Lebanon has a significant deficit in the production of cereals, livestock, and dairy products. Lebanon had a deficit in cereal production at an average of 800 thousand tons per year prior to the Syrian Crisis. Half of the quantity of imported cereals is soft wheat. Lebanon implements a wheat subsidies instrument, through the Ministry of Economy and Trade (MET) The implementation of wheat subsidies is left to a yearly decision undertaken by the Council of Ministers MET also implements a bread price control, with prices of bread fixed at 1 USD per 900 grams of standard Lebanese bread. Through this policy, MET supports bakeries and mills by providing in kind wheat flour deliveries to reduce production cost and ensure mills and bakeries still have a profit margin on the standard 900 gram bread package.

According to NGO Transparency International Lebanon ranks 138th out of 180 countries surveyed on the corruption perception index. A poll conducted by Transparency International in 2016 indicated that 92% of Lebanese thought that corruption had increased that year. Moreover 67% of the respondents indicated that they believed that the majority of the political and economical elites were corrupted, and 76% indicated that the government was doing poorly when it came to fighting corruption. The already suffering country was struck by a huge explosion on 4 August 2020. The explosion devastated the Port of Beirut and destroyed many houses, leaving almost 300,000 people homeless. This explosion has led to the demolition of the country's main harbor that was used to import food.

The top 1% richest adults receive approximately a quarter of the total national income, placing Lebanon among the most unequal countries in the world. The bottom 50% of the population is left with 10% of total national income.

There are few restrictions on foreign investment, barring Israeli citizens and entities. There are no country wide U. S. trade sanctions against Lebanon, although Hezbollah and individuals associated with it have been targeted by the American government. Foreign ownership of real estate is legal under certain conditions. According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, "Lebanon has one of the world's highest public debt to gross domestic product ratios, rising to over 150% as it takes on more debt to plug budget holes." In January 2019, in a move to boost the economy of Lebanon and help the country overcome its debts, Qatar pledged to buy $500 million's worth of government bonds. In June 2019, Bloomberg reported that Qatar had bought some of the bonds and planned to complete the rest of the investment soon.

Lebanon benefits from its large, cohesive, and entrepreneurial diaspora. Over the course of time, emigration has yielded Lebanese "commercial networks" throughout the world. Consequently, in 2009, remittances from Lebanese abroad to family members within the country totaled $8.2 billion and accounted for one fifth of the country's economy. Nassib Ghobril, the head of research and analysis for Byblos Bank, calculates that Lebanese abroad supply Lebanon with about $1,400 per capita every year.

The stock market capitalization of listed companies in Lebanon was valued at $9.6 billion in January 2019, down from $11.5 billion in January 2018

Lebanon was unable to attract significant foreign aid to help it rebuild from both the long civil war (1975–89) and the Israeli occupation of the south (1978–2000). In addition, the delicate social balance and the near dissolution of central government institutions during the civil war handicapped the state as it sought to capture revenues to fund the recovery effort. Thus it accumulated significant debt, which by 2001 had reached $28 billion, or nearly 150% of GDP. Economic performance was sluggish in 2000 and 2001 (zero growth in 2000, and estimates between 1.0 and 1.4% in 2001, largely attributed to slight increases in tourism, banking, industry, and construction). Unemployment is estimated at 14% for 2000 and 29% among the 15 24 year age group, with preliminary estimates of further increases in 2001. However, many Lebanese expatriates have been able to return to the country due to the negative financial situations they are facing abroad, due to the global economic crisis. Also, more job opportunities are attracting more Lebanese youths for a chance to return and work in Lebanon, and also a benefit for the Lebanese living in the country, graduating from universities.