عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Business

Lebanon Expects to Receive 1 Mn Tourists this Summer

A tourist takes a picture of fellow tourists at the sea castle in Sidon, Lebanon (File photo: Reuters)
A tourist takes a picture of fellow tourists at the sea castle in Sidon, Lebanon (File photo: Reuters)
TT
20
TT

Lebanon Expects to Receive 1 Mn Tourists this Summer

A tourist takes a picture of fellow tourists at the sea castle in Sidon, Lebanon (File photo: Reuters)
A tourist takes a picture of fellow tourists at the sea castle in Sidon, Lebanon (File photo: Reuters)

Lebanon expects to receive one million tourists this summer, with 600,000 visitors already arriving in the country, caretaker Tourism Minister Walid Nassar said.

The latest data showed a 77 percent increase in travelers through Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut since the beginning of the year.

Nassar expressed his "optimism about the tourist season," saying in a statement during his participation in the "B Nos Jounieh" festival that over one million tourists are expected to arrive, and hoping for stability.

He said that despite the difficult economic conditions and the scarcity of funds in the municipalities, it is possible through creative ideas to create an atmosphere and restore joy to citizens while reviving the economic cycle.

On the eve of Eid al-Adha, about 30,000 passengers arrive daily through the airport, most Lebanese residents and expatriates.

The number of passengers at the airport in the first week of July increased 44.91 percent, compared to the same period last year, and reached 183,352 passengers.

Lebanon's National News Agency said that at the end of June, the number of passengers arriving through the airport increased during the first half of this year.

About 2,568,797 passengers arrived in Lebanon, compared to 1,444 502 passengers in 2021, which amounts to a 77.83 percent increase and a 113 percent increase over the same period in 2020.

However, the figures showed a decline of about 35 percent from the first half of 2019, when 4,400,523 passengers arrived at the airport.

Most Viewed

 
Business

Russian Central Bank Head Warns of Turbulent Times ahead Despite Slowing Inflation

Russia's Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina attends a session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in Saint Petersburg, Russia, June 20, 2025. REUTERS/Anton Vaganov/File Photo
Russia's Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina attends a session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in Saint Petersburg, Russia, June 20, 2025. REUTERS/Anton Vaganov/File Photo
TT
20
TT

Russian Central Bank Head Warns of Turbulent Times ahead Despite Slowing Inflation

Russia's Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina attends a session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in Saint Petersburg, Russia, June 20, 2025. REUTERS/Anton Vaganov/File Photo
Russia's Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina attends a session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in Saint Petersburg, Russia, June 20, 2025. REUTERS/Anton Vaganov/File Photo

The Russian economy has adapted to Western sanctions and inflation is now slowing, but turbulent times and major technological shifts lie ahead, central bank governor Elvira Nabiullina said on Wednesday.

Despite the sanctions, the Russian economy grew by 4.3% last year but is set to slow sharply in 2025, with many officials and economists saying that the current model has exhausted its growth potential.

"We have adapted to some external challenges (but) no, we are facing very turbulent times ahead," said Nabiullina, who is widely credited with steering the Russian economy through the Ukraine military conflict and resulting sanctions.

"But I am confident that this also presents new opportunities for development and for increasing labor productivity in conditions of expensive labor. We base our efforts on this," she told a banking conference.

She stressed that the high cost of labor - spurred by the military spending that has led to a wage growth spiral in many sectors, as well as by curbs on immigration - would remain for a long time, Reuters reported.

Nabiullina said the economy should in future rely entirely on domestic sources of financing as cheap funding from abroad, abundant before the Ukraine conflict, is no longer available.

"In my view, structural adaptation to external constraints has been completed. We have demonstrated our ability to adapt to these challenges, but now we are facing structural shifts of an entirely new kind, primarily technological ones," she said.

"They may have even more far-reaching consequences than what we experienced over the past two years," Nabiullina said, mentioning artificial intelligence applications in the economy as one such challenge.

INFLATION SLOWING

The central bank, which has faced heavy criticism over its tight monetary policy, began cutting its key interest rate last month as prices started to come down, helped by the rouble's strength.

Nabiullina said inflation is now slowing faster than the central bank expected, and there are signs of easing in the severity of labor market shortages.

She said that if economic indicators pointed to a more significant slowdown than anticipated, the central bank would have room for bolder interest rate cuts. She dismissed statements by critics of the bank, who want deeper cuts, that the cooling of the economy was excessive.

Nabiullina also rejected statements from many businessman and bankers that the rouble is now overvalued and should weaken to please exporting companies, which saw their revenues shrink as the rouble rallied by over 40% against the dollar this year.

"A weak exchange rate is often a sign of vulnerability, a result of chronically high inflation and a lack of confidence in one’s own currency. It is hardly something to strive for," she said.