Figures issued by the Ministry of Finance show that the compensation of public-sector personnel totaled $3.2bn in the first half of 2018, constituting an increase of 26.3% from $2.5bn in the same period of 2017. The double-digit increase is due to the new public-sector salary scale that was enacted by the Lebanese Parliament in July 2017. Salaries, wages and related benefits accounted for 64.8% of the total in the first half of 2018, followed by retirement benefits (22.8%), end-of-service indemnities (7.8%), and transfers to public institutions to cover salaries (4.6%). The compensation of public-sector personnel represented the largest component of budgetary current primary spending and accounted for 67.6% of such expenditures in the covered period compared to 69.3% in the first half of 2017. It absorbed 35.5% of fiscal spending in the first half of 2018 relative to 36.2% in the first half of 2017. 

Salaries, wages & related benefits paid to public-sector employees reached $2.1bn in the first half of 2018, constituting an increase of 26.2% from $1.6bn in the same period of 2017. This category includes basic salaries, employment benefits, allowances, contributions to civil servants' cooperatives, as well as contributions to other mutual funds providing health insurance for specific categories of civil servants, mainly civil and religious judges, and employees at the Parliament. In addition, retirement benefits grew by 17% to $726.4m in the first half of 2018, while end-of-service indemnities rose by 95% to $248.1m, and transfers to public institutions to cover salaries expanded by 5.9% to $145.9m in the covered period.

The Central Administration for Statistics (CAS) released national economic data that covers official figures for gross domestic product (GDP) and its structure and components for 2017, and revised its previous figures for the 2012-16 period. The CAS indicated that its national accounts figures include the informal sector that it estimated at around 30% of recorded output, even though the precise level is uncertain. Further, the CAS stated that its estimates are subject to a wide range of uncertainty. It added that the uncertainty derives from the lack of regular surveys and detailed data on the cost of production, consumer spending, employment, visitors' expenditures and other transactions. It cautioned that its figures are not as accurate as national accounts are supposed to be. 

The CAS estimated economic growth at 0.6% in real terms in 2017, while it reduced Lebanon's real GDP growth rate for 2016 to 1.6% from 1.7% previously. Household consumption contributed 3.6 percentage points and government consumption contributed 0.8 percentage points to real GDP growth in 2017, while gross capital formation did not contribute to real GDP growth last year. In parallel, imports of goods and services had a negative contribution of -3 percentage points, while exports of goods and services had a negative contribution of 0.8 percentage points to real GDP growth in 2017.

Figures released by the Beirut Stock Exchange (BSE) indicate that the trading volume reached 84,702,491 shares in the first 11 months of 2018, constituting an increase of 12.8% from 75,059,974 shares traded in the same period of 2017; while aggregate turnover amounted to $607.1m, down by 6% from a turnover of $645.9m in the first 11 months of 2017. Market capitalization regressed by 10.6% from the end of November 2017 to $9.72bn, with banking stocks accounting for 84.6% of the total, followed by real estate equities (11.6%), industrial shares (3.5%) and trading firms' equities (0.4%). The market liquidity ratio was 6.2% in the covered period compared to 5.9% in the first 11 months of 2017.

Banking stocks accounted for 76.7% of the aggregate trading volume in the first 11 months of 2018, followed by real estate equities with 20.7%, industrial shares with 2.2%, and trading stocks with 0.3%. Also, banking stocks represented 73.5% of the aggregate value of shares traded, followed by real estate equities with 22%, industrial stocks with 4.4% and trading stocks with 0.1%. The average daily traded volume for the period was 383,269 shares for an average daily value of $2.7m. The figures reflect an increase of 13.4% in average volume, and a decline of 5.6% in the average value in the first 11 months of the year. In parallel, the Capital Markets Authority's Market Value-Weighted Index for stocks traded on the BSE dropped by 26.3% in the first 11 months of 2018, while the CMA's Banks Market Value-Weighted Index regressed by 26.2% in the covered period.