Lebanon’s fiscal deficit (Budgetary & Treasury) contracted by 16.24% y-o-y in the first five months of 2020 to around $2.00 billion, compared to $2.39 billion a year earlier. The primary balance (Budget & Treasury) was a deficit of $716 million, in comparison with a much smaller deficit of $38 million by May 2019. In detail, the deep economic recession has taken a toll on government revenues (Budget & Treasury) which fell by 15.35% y-o-y to around $3.78 billion, with tax revenues dropping by 22.64% to $2.75 billion and non-tax revenues plunging by 39.86% to $427.06 million. The drop in tax revenues came as a result of the 51.12% dip in VAT revenues to $494.64 million, the 37.77% decrease in customs revenues to $328.29 million and the 4.36% contraction in miscellaneous tax revenues to $1,926.12 million. Similarly, the drop in non-tax revenues is mainly attributed to the 39.86% contraction in telecom revenues to $132.67 million. Concurrently, government expenditures (Budget & Treasury) (including debt service) fell by 15.66% on an annual basis to about $5.78 billion by May 2020 as debt service dwindled by 45.38% to $1.28 billion in the aftermath of the government’s decision to suspend Eurobond payments. In addition, budget expenditures over previous years increased by 18.26% to around $1.19 billion, while transfers to Electricité Du Liban (EDL) contracted by 33.50% to $402.77 million as a result of the shambolic drop in oil prices. On the other hand, treasury expenditures increased by 4.03% y-o-y to $526.67 million. Consequently, the deficit to total expenditures ratio contracted to 34.59% by May 2020, compared to 34.83% in the same period last year.