Lebanon’s fiscal deficit (Budgetary & Treasury) contracted by 12.87% y-o-y in the first seven months of 2020 to around $2.10 billion, compared to $2.41 billion a year earlier. The primary balance (Budget & Treasury) was a deficit of $707 million, in comparison with a surplus of $577 million by July 2019. In detail, the deep economic recession has taken a toll on government revenues (Budget & Treasury) which fell by 21.22% y-o-y to around $5.50 billion, with tax revenues dropping by 27.43% to $4.03 billion and non-tax revenues plunging by 34.33% to $738.51 million. The drop in tax revenues came as a result of the 55.21% dip in VAT revenues to $663.89 million, the 33.03% decrease in customs revenues to $501.35 million and the 19.50% contraction in miscellaneous tax revenues to $2,526.02 million. Similarly, the drop in non-tax revenues is mainly attributed to the 56.53% contraction in telecom revenues to $199.00 million. Concurrently, government expenditures (Budget & Treasury) (including debt service) fell by 19.08% on an annual basis to about $7.60 billion by July 2020 as debt service dwindled by 53.38% to $1.39 billion in the aftermath of the government’s decision to suspend Eurobond payments. In addition, budget expenditures over previous years dropped by 2.28% to around $1.91 billion, while transfers to Electricité Du Liban (EDL) contracted by 36.19% to $535.16 million as a result of the shambolic drop in oil prices. On the other hand, treasury expenditures increased by 29.50% y-o-y to $956.68 million. Consequently, the deficit to total expenditures ratio expanded to 27.64% by July 2020, compared to 25.67% in the same period last year.