BEIRUT, July 17 (Xinhua) -- Lebanon's post-war recovery and reconstruction will require more than 20 billion U.S. dollars, according to a policy assessment released Friday by the Beirut-based Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies.
The report estimated physical damage at 6.8 billion dollars and economic losses at 7.2 billion dollars, with total direct and indirect losses exceeding 65 percent of Lebanon's gross domestic product.
Lebanon's financial collapse in 2019 left the government largely unable to finance reconstruction through traditional means, making it heavily dependent on international grants and loans tied to long-delayed financial, administrative and institutional reforms, it said.
Lebanese Finance Minister Yassin Jaber has said about 200 million dollars is available as domestic funding to cover urgent post-war needs, though the report said this represents only a small fraction of the country's actual needs and is intended mainly to help attract larger international financing.
The report said Lebanon's reconstruction challenge lies not only in securing financial resources but also in ensuring the state can effectively manage available funds and channel them toward sustainable economic recovery rather than short-term emergency responses.■
