Lebanon’s fiscal balance (Budgetary & Treasury) registered a rare surplus of $374 million during the first seven months of 2021 in comparison with a deficit of $2,099 million a year earlier. The primary balance (Budget & Treasury) was a surplus of $1,519 million, in comparison with a deficit of $707 million by end of July 2020. In detail, government revenues (Budget & Treasury) rose by 32.57% y-o-y to around $7,286 million, with non-tax revenues increasing by 58.54% to $1,170.96 million and tax revenues improving by 39.30% to $5,613.82 million. The rise in non-tax revenues was buoyed by some 226.93% expansion in telecom revenues to $650.61 million YTD July 2021. On the other hand, the rise in tax revenues came as a result of the 139.77% increase in VAT revenues to $1,591.83 million, the 16.89% rise in customs revenues to $586.04 million and the 20.49% expansion in miscellaneous tax revenues to $3,043.53 million. In parallel, government expenditures (Budget & Treasury) (including debt service) fell by 8.99% y-o-y to about $6.91 billion as debt service dropped by 17.77% to $1,145 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 46.41% to around $677.56 million, and transfers to Electricité Du Liban (EDL) concurrently fell by 20.10% to $644.59 million.