More than half of Lebanese will be poor in 2021

The World Bank said Lebanon is in a long and arduous recession, and has criticized authorities for the deliberate absence of effective policy measures, expecting real economic growth to slow to (-19.2) percent in 2020.

The World Bank added in the Lebanon Economic Monitor report that poverty is likely to continue to worsen, making more than half of the country’s population poor by 2021, while the debt-to-GDP ratio is expected to reach 194. percent, up from 171 percent at the end of 2019.

“One year after the outbreak of the severe economic crisis in Lebanon, the deliberate absence of effective policy measures by the authorities has exposed the economy to a long and arduous recession,” the bank said in a statement.

He continued: “Lebanon suffers from a serious loss of resources, especially human capital, while the brain drain has become an increasingly desperate option.”

He said: “The authorities disagreed with each other regarding the assessment, diagnosis and solution of the crisis … The result was a series of uncoordinated, incomplete and inadequate political measures that aggravated the economic and social conditions.”