There are still signs of life

The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) warned that, as a consequence of the recent conflict, Lebanon’s 2006 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) could shrink by some 10%, taking the national debt of almost $40 billion to twice the size of the country’s national income. The Lebanese Council for Development and Reconstruction (CDR) has stated that Lebanon sustained some $3.6 billion in material losses, but has failed to estimate the cost to businesses. The United Nations Development Fund (UNDP), which is working in close cooperation with Seniora’s office, announced in August that direct and indirect losses total at least $15 billion. “The damage is such that the last 15 years of work on reconstruction and rehabilitation, following the previous problems that Lebanon experienced, have been now annihilated," said UNDP spokesman Jean Fabre. Economist Mazen Soueid, in a commentary for The Daily Star, estimated that loss in exports amounted to some $200 million, loss