Lebanon’s fiscal balance (Budgetary & Treasury) registered a rare surplus of $187 million during the first half of 2021 in comparison with a deficit of $2,223 million a year earlier. The primary balance (Budget & Treasury) was a surplus of $1,152 million, in comparison with a deficit of $876 million in the first half of 2020. In detail, government revenues (Budget & Treasury) rose by 29.56% y-o-y to around $5,977 million, with non-tax revenues increasing by 54.01% to $974.31 million and tax revenues improving by 38.05% to $4,602.33 million. The rise in non-tax revenues was buoyed by some 173.81% expansion in telecom revenues to $544.90 million YTD June 2021. On the other hand, the rise in tax revenues came as a result of the 118.89% increase in VAT revenues to $1,235.48 million, the 16.36% rise in customs revenues to $492.39 million and the 20.87% expansion in miscellaneous tax revenues to $2,541.49 million. In parallel, government expenditures (Budget & Treasury) (including debt service) fell by 15.30% y-o-y to about $5.79 billion as debt service dropped by 28.36% to $965 million in the aftermath of the government’s decision in March 2020 to suspend Eurobond payments. In addition, budget expenditures over previous years dropped by 46.46% to around $675.73 million, and transfers to Electricité Du Liban (EDL) concurrently fell by 20.78% to $343.50 million.