Lebanon’s economy and industry suffer under coronavirus impact

ENAR

When seeking to fathom how Lebanon’s pre-existing economic woes correlate to the newly unfolding global coronavirus recession, a first obstacle is posed by the extreme speed with which this recession is unfolding. In February, and even earlier in March, international agencies, leading economic powers, financial institutions, and noted economists assumed that the virus’s impact might be sharp or moderate but limited to the short term. By the end of the second week in March, however, the tone of assessments had changed dramatically. Expectations of recessions in leading economies such as the United States now see a recovery starting in the fourth quarter of the year—in optimistic scenarios marked by a seasonal pattern with the first wave of coronavirus infections peaking this spring. Less hopeful scenarios see no resumption of GDP growth in corona-stricken G7 economies before the first quarter of next year, and some noted economists anticipate far worse, a