Lebanon’s fiscal balance (Budgetary & Treasury) registered a rare surplus of $302 million during the first nine months of 2021 in comparison with a deficit of $2,616 million a year earlier. The primary balance (Budget & Treasury) was a surplus of $1,706 million, in comparison with a deficit of $1,137 million by end of September 2020. In detail, government revenues (Budget & Treasury) rose by 31.59% y-o-y to around $9,221 million, with non-tax revenues increasing by 48.90% to $1,618.03 million and tax revenues improving by 35.82% to $6,917.80 million. The rise in non-tax revenues was buoyed by some 115.21% expansion in telecom revenues to $885.29 million YTD September 2021. On the other hand, the rise in tax revenues came as a result of the 115.38% increase in VAT revenues to $1,904.62 million, the 21.55% rise in customs revenues to $767.30 million and the 19.55% expansion in miscellaneous tax revenues to $3,692.99 million. In parallel, government expenditures (Budget & Treasury) (including debt service) fell by 7.32% y-o-y to about $8.92 billion as debt service dropped by 5.13% to $1,404 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 46.26% to around $680.50 million, and transfers to Electricité Du Liban (EDL) concurrently fell by 31.47% to $462.92 million.