The Lebanese economy is not only wearing black, it is also awash with red and white, and will be for a while yet and it remains unclear just how long – weeks, months or longer – the disruption of Lebanon’s economic heartbeat will last. This cannot presently be assessed authoritatively in terms of economic impact and the potential loss reaches from hundreds of millions of dollar to possibly billions – but it could also create, if the momentum for change is sustained, an unprecedented momentum of long-term economic growth. In the immediate aftermath, attention has focused on the monetary situation, the exchange rate, potential pressure on the banking system, and short-term fluctuations in the Solidere share price as well as the cost for repairing damages to the hotels and businesses affected directly by the explosion and the disruption of tourism. In tourism, on top of the large losses that had
