According to the Association of Banks (ABL), Lebanon’s gross public debt registered a yearly rise of 5.32%, to reach $78.47B by October 2017.
In details, debt in local currency, LBP, (63.1% of the total gross public debt), recorded an annual uptick of 8.76% to reach $49.48B, while debt in foreign currency (36.9% of gross debt) decreased by 0.06% year-on-year (y-o-y) to $28.99B by Oct. 2017.
As for the holders of debt, BDL’ share of the local currency debt grew while that of commercial banks shrank in October 2017. In details, BDL grasped 51.6% of the gross total debt, while Lebanese commercial banks and other non-banking sector respectively held the remaining shares of 33.6% and 14.8% over the same period. Moreover, Eurobonds constituted 92% of the foreign currency debt, while the remaining was covered by multilateral and bilateral loans in Oct. 2017.
The net public debt, which excludes the public sector deposits at commercial banks and the Central Bank, declined by an annual 8.56% but rose by 4.13% compared to December 2016, to reach $68.13B by October 2017.
Local Currency Debt by Type of Holder
Source : ABL