WB estimates Lebanon's losses due to Syrian crisis at $7.5bn

A World Bank report estimated that the Lebanese total economic losses resulting from the Syrian crisis from 2011 until 2014 will reach 7.5 billion U.S. dollars, Lebanon's An-Nahar newspaper reported on Thursday. Earlier, the Lebanese government asked the World Bank to prepare a report concerning the Syrian crisis' impact on its economy. The report came ahead of a meeting of the international donors for Lebanon on Sept. 25 in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. "The amount is equivalent to the amount Lebanon is going to ask from the international community in order to make up its losses," the report stated. The report also said the total number of Syrian refugees in Lebanon is expected to reach 1.3 million by the end of 2013 and jump to 1.6 million by the end of year 2014 which is about 37 percent of Lebanon's total population. The UN says there are over 739,000 registered Syrian refugees in Lebanon, while the Lebanese authorities put the number at 1.3 million.