Lebanese economy shrinks

(MENAFN) The Lebanese economy contracted between 0.5 and 1 percent in the first half of the year, a senior economist at the Institute of International Finance told The Daily Star. "In spite of several projections by different international organizations that growth had remained positive ... our estimates indicate that the economy saw some contraction during the first six months of the year," said Garbis Iradian, deputy director for Africa and Middle East at the global association for financial institutions.