This is the year-on-year decline in foreign direct investment (FDI) in Lebanon at the end of 2021, totaling $516.7 million, compared to $1.31 billion the previous year, according to figures provided by Banque du Liban and reported by Byblos Bank’s Lebanon this Week.
In detail, 36.9 million dollars were received in the first quarter of last year, 99.7 million in the second, 63.8 million in the third and 316.5 million in the fourth quarter. . All of the investments received in 2021 thus represent the lowest level of FDI made in Lebanon since the BDL began to publish detailed balance of payments figures in 2002.
Between 2018 and 2019, FDI fell by almost half (48.1%), dropping from $2.7 billion to $1.4 billion. The fall between 2020 and 2021 was even more brutal, by 60.4% (from 1.3 billion to 516.7 million dollars), bringing the decrease in FDI between 2018 and 2021 to 80.9%. While between 2016 and 2018, FDI to Lebanon increased by 3.84%.
FDI from Lebanon reached $28 million in 2021, up 167.8% from its 2020 level ($10.5 million), recording its second lowest level for the occasion. since 2002. As a result, net FDI reached $488.7 million in 2021, down 62.3% from the level of the previous year ($1.3 billion).
This discrepancy with previous years is explained by the fact that Lebanon is going through a multifaceted crisis, economic, financial and of confidence in banks, due to the restrictions on foreign currency accounts imposed illegally since the end of the summer 2019. Not to mention the political crisis, with reforms identified a long time ago, but which the authorities are slow to implement. This whole environment is not conducive to business and therefore does not encourage anyone to invest in Lebanon, even if the currency has lost 95% of its value and its exports could therefore be more competitive.
It should also be noted that the BDL figures are different from those published in June by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Cnuced, or Unctad in its English acronym), which noted that FDI in Lebanon at the end of 2021 s were $273.1 million, down 76.9% from their end-2020 level, also estimated at $1.31 billion. This organization also indicated that FDI from Lebanon reached $65.5 million in 2021, up 527.5% from its 2020 level, and that net FDI reached $207.6 million in 2021. 2021, compared to 1.3 billion a year earlier.
This is the year-on-year decline in foreign direct investment (FDI) in Lebanon at the end of 2021, totaling $516.7 million, compared to $1.31 billion the previous year, according to figures provided by Banque du Liban and reported by Byblos Bank’s Lebanon this Week. In detail, 36.9 million dollars were received during the first quarter of…