Lebanon’s Ministry of Finance is to return to the bond market this month with a new issue of $1.3bn, following government approval at the end of August. This follows an IMF warning the previous month that “with public debt already exceeding 130% of GDP and gross financing needs around 25% of GDP in 2015, Lebanon faces significant risks to public debt sustainability.”
Lebanon’s gross public debt hit $69bn at end-June – a whopping 133% of GDP – up from $66.6bn at end-2014. The IMF predicts the debt will further rise to $72bn by end of this year (see graph). (CONTINUED - 834 WORDS)
