The United Nation’s Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) published a report titled “Survey of Economic and Social Developments in the Arab Region 2019-2020”, shedding light on the economic and social development across Arab nations during the past couple of years. The report noted that the COVID-19 pandemic has severely pressured the global economy, to the extent that the scale of the impact remains unclear to date. Accordingly, the report has come up with two scenarios: a baseline scenario that assumes an economic rebound in the first quarter of 2021, and a pessimistic scenario that assumes the economic crisis will last beyond the first quarter of the year, noting that the rebound is expected to occur no later than the second quarter of 2021. In details, the ESCWA estimated a recovery in the Arab’s region’s real GDP growth to 2.8% in 2021, up from an estimated contraction of 3.0% for the year 2020 (contraction of 5.7% in the pessimistic scenario). More specifically, real GDP growth in oil-exporting GCC countries is expected to improve from an estimated contraction of 3.1% in 2020 (contraction of 7.1% in the pessimistic scenario) to a real growth of 2.3% in 2021 (2.1% in the pessimistic scenario) mainly spurred by an increase in international oil prices after GCC oil-exporting countries experienced a 54% drop in their income in 2020. On the other hand, the report stated that oil importers’ economies were burdened by the closure of European markets amid the COVID outbreak and a decrease in remittances in 2020. In this vein, the report noted that GDP growth in Arab countries is expected to rebound in 2021 due to stimulus packages offered by most governments, in addition to the rise in oil prices following monetary expansions. Furthermore, the report mentioned that the central banks and ministries of finance of Arab countries have adopted incentive packages aggregating to around $180 billion in order to attempt to tame the impact of the pandemic. Conversely, the report highlighted that the Arab region continues to suffer from a host of social challenges, ranging from rising poverty, increasing unemployment levels and persisting gender inequalities, all of which are being exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the strict lockdown measures. According to the report, the income poverty rate has increased by an expected 3 percentage points in 2020 (around 115 million people) to reach 32.4% in 2020, with the unemployment rate also rising by 1.2%. Furthermore, the report added that the Arab region has a 40.05% gender gap to close, as women are apt to leave their jobs to fulfil household duties during the lockdown such as caring for their children following school closures. On a local basis, the report commented that Lebanon is facing a multitude of socioeconomic challenges that started in 2019 and were heightened in 2020, as the Lebanese economy battled with twin deficits, high public debt, a default on the repayment of Eurobonds, a large depreciation of the local currency, and an economic slowdown resulting from the lockdown imposed as a result of the pandemic. In the same context, the ESCWA estimated the Lebanese economy to contract by 1.1% in 2019 and to further contract by 10.2% in 2020 (compared to a contraction of 19.1% in 2020 under the pessimistic scenario) and to recover by 1.5% in 2021. In addition, the report stated that the economic rebound in the year 2021 is contingent upon structural reforms, restoring trust of society & foreign stakeholders in Lebanese institutions, successful measures to stop the deterioration of the local currency and the outcomes of the negotiations with the IMF to obtain financial support. The report noted in this respect that even before the pandemic, the Lebanese economy was expected to grow by 0.4% in 2020 and 1.4% in 2021. According to the report, the consumer inflation rate in Lebanon rallied to 16.4% in 2020, compared to 1.4% in 2019 owing to the uncertainties and various socioeconomic challenges (namely the sizeable depreciation of the Lebanese Pound). It is worth noting that as per the ESCWA report, the situation in Lebanon became more complex with the Beirut port blast on August 4, 2020. Furthermore, the report mentioned that following the COVID-19 outbreak and the recession in Lebanon, the country witnessed a gargantuan drop in its trade deficit from $15 billion in 2019 to $12 billion in 2020, and an improvement in its current account deficit from $15 billion to $10 billion during the same period mainly buoyed by a drop in imports following the sizeable devaluation of the pound. In addition, the report commented that the fiscal deficit in Lebanon has widened to 12% of GDP in the year 2020 as the country has been struggling with debt sustainability, particularly following the Government’s decision to suspend the payments of Eurobonds.