Lebanon’s annual import stand at nearly USD 20 billion, with food products making one third of its volume, Al Diyar reported today. The country’s dependence on imports in almost all of its industries, namely food items, will inevitably end in food insecurity, Al Diyar said, describing what is happening as economic annihilation. Imported goods are largely paid in US dollars, the newspaper wrote, noting that Lebanon’s revenues in USD barely cover the country’s import in hard currency. To note, Lebanon’s revenues come basically from tourism (around USD 6 billion), exports (USD 2.9 billion) and expatriates’ remittances (USD 7 billion). The newspaper cast in figures the value of imported commodities, including fuel, wheat, cars, medicine, meat, cheese and milk, furniture and others (the complete list can be found on the following link: (https://bit.ly/2SsIGX8). Al Diyar outlined a feasible strategy to reduce the volume of imports, stressing the need to rely on the primary sector that focuses on using natural resources, namely agriculture and the extraction of oil and gas, as well as on the secondary industry which gives emphasis to the locally manufactured goods. The said strategy, Al Diyar concluded, targets three objectives: the restoration of Lebanon’s food security, especially that 85% of this sector is imported; the reduction of the trade deficit and the development of industry. For more info, kindly refer to the link below: (https://bit.ly/2SsIGX8). (Al Diyar, December 24, 2019)
