The Council for Development and Reconstruction (CDR) indicted that it signed contracts for an aggregate value of $10.7bn during the 1992-2011 period, that include $7.4bn, or 69.4% of the total, in completed projects and $3.3bn worth of projects still to be implemented.
The solid waste sector attracted $1.6bn of signed contracts during the covered period, followed by the electricity sector with $1.4bn, education with $1.1bn, potable water with $832.6m, post & telecommunications with $789.5m, sanitary water systems with $604m, and public health with $313.1m. Further, the CDR said that foreign funding totaled $4.5bn, with $1.2bn for electricity projects, $604m for potable water, $506m for education projects, $402.9m for sanitation projects, and $215.2m for public health.
In parallel, it pointed out that realized external financing totaled $9.4bn between 1992 and 2011, with soft loans totaling $6.6bn, or 70% of the total, and grants amounting $2.8bn or 30% of the total. It said that the Arab Fund for Economic & Social Development provided 14% of overall financing during the covered period, followed by the Facility for Euro-Mediterranean Investment and Partnership with 11%, the Kuwait Fund For Arab Economic Development and the Kuwaiti government with 11% both, Saudi Arabia and the Saudi Fund for Development together with 10%, the Islamic Development Bank with 10%, the European Union with 6%, the Italian government with 6%, the French government and the French Development Agency together with 4%, Qatar with 3%, commercial banks with 3%, and Germany and Japan with 2% each.
It noted that the infrastructure sector attracted 37% of total realized external financing between 1992 and 2011, followed by social sectors such as education, public health, housing compensation, youth and sports and environment with 26% of the total; productive sectors and other sectors such as agriculture, irrigation, industry, tourism with 19%; and basic services sector such as potable water, sanitation and solid waste with 18%.
Lebanon This Week – Byblos Bank Research
11 December
