The Lebanese Gross Public Debt (GPD) amounted to $69.37B (LBP 104,582B) by the 5th month of 2015, broadening by 6.58% year-on-year (y-o-y) and 4.21% year-to-date (y-t-d). Hence, Lebanon’s public debt reached 134.78% of Gross Domestic Product compared to 134.45% in December 2014.
Debt in domestic currency, representing 60.74% of total gross debt, grew by a yearly 8.49% to reach the equivalent of $42.14B in May, while foreign currency debt increased by 3.75% y-o-y to stand at $27.24B.
The Net Public Debt, which excludes public sector deposits at commercial banks and the Central Bank (BdL), broadened by 8.43% annually to $59.28B and recorded a 3.44% y-t-d increase by May 2015. Worth noting that public sector deposits have actually fallen yearly by 3.12% from $10.42B in May 2015 to $10.09B this year.
Commercial banks remained the largest subscribers of Treasury bills and bonds with a share of 48.7%, followed by 34.5% stake for BdL and 16.8% for the non-banking sector.
Share of Local Debt and Foreign Debt from Gross Public Debt by May ($B)
Source: Association of Banks in Lebanon