st: Keeping the same variable with collapse- Reference to Sep.2002 posting

["Henao Arbelaez, Camila" <CHenaoArbelaez@imf.org>]

In the FAQ (Nicholas Cox, Sept. 2002/updated Sept. 2003) I found instructions on how to keep the original variable labels after collapsing a dataset. I only changed the variable list (on which to apply the loop), but when I run I have a "invalid syntax" problem.
My code runs as following. Maybe you can help me figure out what is wrong. The loop which presents the problem is the last one. 

*1. Copy variable labels before collapse

foreach v in offshore-merge_gpdusd {
 	local l`v' : variable label `v'
        if `"`l`v''"' == "" {
 		local l`v' "`v'"
  }
  }
  
local list offshore-merge_gpdusd

  *2.Collapse

collapse (mean)  offshore-merge_gpdusd, by(country year ifs)

*3. Label original variables with the local created in step 1.
	
	foreach v in  offshore- merge_gpdusd {
	label var `v' "`l`v''"
	}

Thanks for your help,

Camila

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