Lebanon has reported a sharp fall in the value of letter of credit (L/C) openings over recent months.

The decline in L/Cs is clearly an indication of falling trade movements and suggests the country's economy has been hard hit by the impact of the civil war in neighbouring Syria.

Sharp decline

The value of L/Cs opened in Lebanon fell by 24.6 per cent during July 2015 to US$567.9 million from US$753 million in the previous month according to data released by the central bank.

The Bank of Lebanon (BDL) data indicates that during 2015 and on a cumulative basis, the value of L/Cs opened declined by 19.1 per cent to approximately US$4.7 billion during the first seven months of 2015.

This compares with a value of US$5.8 billion in L/C openings in the same period of 2014.

Economic burden

According to BDL, the value of import L/Cs over the first seven months of 2015 declined by 18 per cent to US$3 billion compared with the US$3.7 billion recorded in the same period in 2014.

Lebanon has been burdened by more than 1.2 million refugees fleeing the war in Syria.

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