The total value of contracts awarded by Lebanon’s Council for Development and Reconstruction (CDR) since 1992 reached $12.5 billion after rising by four per cent in 2014, a report said.

Foreign funding of contracts stood at $5 billion in October, up by $100 million, added the BusinessNews.com website.

Completed and ongoing contracts were at $5.3 billion till end 2014, the report said, highlighting that transportation continued to be the largest consumer of contracts with $3 billion worth of projects in 25 years.

Electricity ($1.5 billion), and telecom ($800 million), claimed the second and third spots respectively.

Basic services contracts reached $4 billion with $2.2 billion in solid waste projects. Water supply projects were valued at $1.1 billion and wastewater at $838 million, the report said.

The value of social and economic sectors rose by six percent in 2014 to amount to a total of $1.8 billion, with $1.3 billion spent on education, while agriculture and sovereign services remained at $1.3 billion.