New study says deficit dropped by nearly a trillion LBP

The Ministry of Finance announced that the results of the public finances study for the first three quarters of 2011 revealed that the public deficit decreased by 984 billion LBP compared to the same period last year. The study also showed that the surplus increased by 713 billion LBP compared to 2010 numbers.   

The Finance Ministry issued a statement saying that the total deficit (the budget and the Treasury’s transactions), calculated over the period extending from January to September 2011, reached 2.103 billion LBP which amounts to 16.71% of the state’s total expenditures. The statement stressed that the total deficit decreased by 984 billion LBP, while during the same period last year, the deficit hit 3.088 billion LBP i.e. 24.88% of the state’s total expenditures.    

Preliminary results show that the total surplus for 2011 reached 2.336 billion LB, chalking up 18.56% of the state’s total expenditure. The results indicate a rise of 713 billion LBP in comparison with last year’s surplus which reached 1.623 billion LBP in the same period of 2010, i.e. 13.08% of the state’s total expenditure.