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No pause  for new construction Construction permits issued during the first half of the year covered an area of 8.4 million square meters, according to Bank Audi’s August 1 report, a 33 percent increase on the same period in 2009 (as per data from Order of Engineers of Beirut and Tripoli). Another indicator of increased real estate and infrastructure activity is the 10 percent rise in cement deliveries in the first five months of 2010 compared to the same period a year ago, reaching some 2,092,000 tons. April 2010 saw the highest amount of cement deliveries, at 501,000 tons. Housing Bank slowly expanding Lebanon’s Housing Bank, which offers real estate loans to Lebanese residents and expatriates, reported a 2.2 percent rise in profits in 2009, rising to $9.4 million compared to $9.2 million in 2008. Some of the reasons for the small margin of profit are a 21 percent decrease