|
||
 |
||
|
||
|
||
| Lebanon likely to cut
growth outlook on Gulf concerns BEIRUT - The Lebanese government will likely cut its 2009 economic growth forecast to between 3 and 3.5 percent from 5 percent because of concerns about growth in the Gulf, the finance minister said. Mohammad Chatah also said the economy could have grown by more than 6 percent this year. "We set the rate of growth at 5 percent for our budget for the coming year but it is likely that we will reduce it to 3 percent or 3.5 percent," Chatah said in an interview with CNN, according to a finance ministry statement. "There is much concern about the levels of growth in the Gulf and it is a very important region for us," he said. Around a third of the Lebanese workforce are employed in Gulf states including the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia and some Lebanese have already started to return home, laid off by employers seeking to deal with the fallout of the financial crisis. Chatah said indicators suggested growth for 2008 could be more than 6 percent -- the level at which the IMF had previously estimated this year's growth. -Reuters |
