Where do we go now?

At the end of 2017, Lebanon does not know exactly where its economy stands because there is a lack of publicly available quantifiable data to suggest what direction Lebanon is headed in the coming year and beyond. We know that the economy is in a bad way, thanks to a few high-level indicators like stagnant economic growth and rising levels of poverty. But we do not know whether or not we are on the cliff’s edge, staring down into the darkness of the abyss that is an economic collapse. Rather, it seems our viewing lense is situated just far enough back to see that there are fundamental flaws within the economy, but the angle is not wide enough to know precisely where such fissures really are or how deep they go. At the legislative level, 2017 saw several laws passed by Parliament that will directly impact the economy, such as