ABU DHABI: Lebanon’s Central Bank Vice Governor Saad Andary said Friday that the country’s economic growth slowed sharply to around 1.5 percent in 2011, in what would be the slowest rate since 2006. Andary said he remained upbeat about growth prospects for this year and that greater political stability would help, but he did not elaborate.

“Let’s say we are optimistic ... Finally we have a government,” he told reporters on the sidelines of a Financial Stability Board meeting of regional central bankers in Abu Dhabi.

The preliminary estimate for 2011, which matches a forecast by the International Monetary Fund, is slightly down from the central bank’s 2 percent growth prediction in November and reflects regional unrest and political tensions.

“In 2009, it was about 9 percent, followed by 7 percent, now it is probably around 1.5 percent of real GDP,” Andary said.

The central bank’s governor last November blamed slower growth on widespread fears that unrest in neighboring Syria would affect Lebanon.

Internal political tensions that brought down the government of Prime Minister Saad Hariri in January helped bring growth crashing to a halt for the first six months of the year, he added.

Economic activity in Lebanon is showing signs of a pickup and growth could reach 3 to 4 percent in 2012, the IMF said in November.

But it warned risks to the outlook were “high and to the downside” because of global economic uncertainty and regional unrest.