03 March 2021 Commenting on the BLOM Lebanon PMI for February 2021, Dr. Ali Bolbol, Chief Economist/Head of Research at BLOM Bank, said: 'The Lebanese private sector seems to have gotten a bit of a breather in February 2021, as the BLOM Lebanon PMI increased to 42.2 from 41.0 in January 2021. All of output, new orders, and especially new export orders, witnessed declines that were less than before, while employment stabilized. These are positive developments, and perhaps they show that Lebanese firms are eager to resume activity after months of retrenchment. But negative circumstances vastly remain, not least the pessimistic sentiments concerning the future because of the disastrous political deadlock and instability.'