by Arab News

JEDDAH: Lebanese expats working in the Gulf remit around $5 billion annually, with Saudi Arabia leading the list of these countries, an official of that country has said.
“The Lebanese economy will adversely affected once the number of expats working in the Gulf begins to decrease,” Mohammad Shaheen, chairman of the Lebanese Council for Work and Investments in the Gulf, said.
Most of the Lebanese working in these countries occupy prestigious jobs and positions, such as doctors, managers and engineers, he was quoted as saying by local media on Thursday.
“More than 300,000 Lebanese expatriates send remittances to about 600,000 beneficiaries in Lebanon who are bound to experience hardships if immediate steps are not taken by that country to mend its ways,” he said.

Shaheen demanded that the Lebanese authorities take diplomatic measures to avoid what he described as a “growing crisis.”
“According to the statistics of the Central Bank of Lebanon, from 1975 to 2015, the country received more than $50 billion in the form of direct and indirect aid, in addition to multiple bonds,” he said.
Meanwhile, investments by Saudis in the mountains of Lebanon have reached more 70 percent of the total investments, he said. “Such figures have now already begun to evaporate.”
Other Gulf economists and analysts attributed the current crisis to the continuous and unified stance of the Gulf. Ali Al-Shatti, a Kuwaiti analyst, was quoted as saying that the announcement by the Central Bank of Lebanon about the value of remittances coming from Gulf is clear evidence of what the area has given to — and provided for — Lebanon. “The stance of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Lebanon is still not convincing,” he said.
Abdulaziz Al-Rukabi, an expert in economic affairs, said the deterioration of the Lebanese economy is the result of wrong political attitudes. “The collapse will include all the sectors, mainly tourism and real estate. The Lebanese expatriates have been until now described as the “pampered nationality” in the Gulf with high positions and prestigious jobs and high salaries, he added.