global economy

BashLogic

Hello,

thou this is out of the forum theme topic, I was wondering on whether the local media is broadcasting about the ongoing global economical crisis and whether it reflects in your daily life/routine.

do share what you have locally heard and how you see it affecting you.

Joe

One thing to note is that Lebanon is one of the rare countries not to be affected by the global recession. This claim is not entirely true, but to a larger degree, Lebanon seems to be doing well amidst the global crisis.

It seems even software piracy seems to have decreased since the beginning of the recession.

NB:

- I'm not saying that Lebanon is in a stable financial situation. Simply that it's not a recession.
- I'm still curious about how much coverage this topic gets in the Lebanese media. Here in France, it is mentionned every day in the news since 2008 at least.

Georges

rahmu wroteOne thing to note is that Lebanon is one of the rare countries not to be affected by the global recession. This claim is not entirely true, but to a larger degree, Lebanon seems to be doing well amidst the global crisis.

I'll tell you why. Because we already have nothing to do with the global economy system. Do we have such a keyword first ?

Take a look again at both public and private sectors, and laugh :)

Joe

Well, that's not entirely true. Global recession has been particularly difficult for every other third world country.

It just so happen that our banking system managed to absorb the shock.
Sometimes, sometimes, we do okay.

Tarek

its because of our heavy secured and low-risk loans system .

monkey-d-luffy

More like because of money laundry...

rolf

I see Lebanon not being affected more as a bad sign then a good sign.

xazbrat

rahmu wroteWell, that's not entirely true. Global recession has been particularly difficult for every other third world country.

It just so happen that our banking system managed to absorb the shock.
Sometimes, sometimes, we do okay.

The banking system is part of it--the main part is that remittances from abroad continue to float our economy. Over 20% of the GDP in the this country is coming from people working abroad, which is pretty pathetic in retrospect, because if the same people remitting had job in this country, it would multiply by a factor of 4 or 5. Also contributing is that many of these people are working in the oil and gas rich gulf states which aren't in recession. Some countries like Turkey and Tunisia had drops because they were dependent on remittances from Europe, who is in recession.

the article cited earlier is over a year old--since then geopolitical issues have dominated and will affect us, especially in the tourist sector and export markets. Also, the definition of recession has not been clearly articulated in this country. In the USA for example, it is 2 or more quarters of negative growth (yes, an oxymoron); other countries use employment as a factor.

Joe

@xazbrat:

It makes sense and I agree with you. If you read my original post, you'll see I'm not saying at all that Lebanon has a stable economical situation. Far from it.

I'm answering the OP, who's talking about the "ongoing global economical crisis". It's a problem particularly dominant in Europe and the US and is mainly a financial one.

This particular problem did not affect Lebanon much. I'm merely giving credit to our banking system for avoiding this crisis. (I agree with Tarek talking about low-risk loans system, a tradition that Lebanese banks have developed from the country being in a constant state of war).

For the rest I agree with you.