Lebanon’s fiscal deficit (Budgetary & Treasury) contracted by 8.08% y-o-y in the first half of 2020 to around $2.22 billion, compared to $2.42 billion a year earlier. The primary balance (Budget & Treasury) was a deficit of $876 million, in comparison with a surplus of $309 million by June 2019. In detail, the deep economic recession has taken a toll on government revenues (Budget & Treasury) which fell by 19.81% y-o-y to around $4.61 billion, with tax revenues dropping by 27.94% to $3.33 billion and non-tax revenues plunging by 29.53% to $632.62 million. The drop in tax revenues came as a result of the 49.81% dip in VAT revenues to $564.43 million, the 32.36% decrease in customs revenues to $423.15 million and the 22.46% contraction in miscellaneous tax revenues to $2,102.69 million. Similarly, the drop in non-tax revenues is mainly attributed to the 44.38% contraction in telecom revenues to $199.00 million. Concurrently, government expenditures (Budget & Treasury) (including debt service) fell by 16.34% on an annual basis to about $6.84 billion by June 2020 as debt service dwindled by 50.61% to $1.35 billion in the aftermath of the government’s decision to suspend Eurobond payments. In addition, budget expenditures over previous years increased by 10.40% to around $1.26 billion, while transfers to Electricité Du Liban (EDL) contracted by 39.55% to $433.62 million as a result of the shambolic drop in oil prices. On the other hand, treasury expenditures increased by 22.74% y-o-y to $798.15 million. Consequently, the deficit to total expenditures ratio expanded to 32.52% by June 2020, compared to 29.60% in the same period last year.