The Lebanese gross public debt amounted to $69.21B (LBP 104,338B) by February 2015, widening by 6.48% year-on-year (y-o-y) and 3.97% year-to-date (y-t-d). This equivalent to 138.64% of Lebanon’s GDP.
Debt in domestic currency, representing 60.2% of total gross debt, escalated by a yearly 7.97% to reach $41.68B, while foreign currency debt grew by 4.44% y-o-y to stand at $27.57B, over the same period. The share of domestic debt has risen by 10 percentage points in six years as interest rates on foreign currency denominated debt have fallen drastically. Hence investors preferred to subscribe to domestic currency denominated debt for its more attractive yield.
The Net Public Debt, which deducts public sector deposits at commercial banks and the Central Bank (BdL), broadened by 7.61% annually to $58.03B and recorded a 1.26% increase y-t-d by February.
Commercial banks remained the largest subscribers of Treasury bills and bonds with a share of 50.4%, followed by 32.7% stake for BdL and 16.9% for the non-banking sector (largest contributor is NSSA).
Share of Local Debt from Gross Public Debt by February
Source: Association of Banks in Lebanon