A commercial street in Keserouan. (Credit: P.H.B.)
Business activity in Lebanon continued to decline in the first quarter of 2024, marked by the continuation of the socio-economic crisis that erupted in 2019 and the explosive situation in the south of the country in the wake of the war in Gaza, indicate the latest results of the index developed by the Beirut Merchants Association and Fransabank,
The value of the index fell from 56.09 points at the end of 2023 to 42.84 points three months later, a drop of 13.25 points. However, it remains well above its worst level since 2019, at 16.93 points, at the end of Q1 2023. At that time, the exchange rate between the Lebanese pound and the dollar had undergone a strong phase of instability, which ended in the spring of the same year. Since then, it has stabilized at its current level (LL 89.500 to the dollar).
The authors of the report on the first quarter of 2024 assert that its result “confirms the direct impact of regional events” on an already fragile Lebanese market.
This article originally appeared in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.