Figures released by the Ministry of Finance (MoF) revealed that Lebanon’s gross public debt climbed by a yearly 3.4% to hit $85.73B by June 2019. The rise came on the back of increase in local currency (LC) which outpaced the decline in foreign currency (FC) debt in the first 6 months of the year.
Total domestic debt increased by 11.74% YoY to reach a value of $53.46B. Moreover, the share of domestic debt of the total debt rose from 60.66% by June 2018 to 62.62% by June 2019. Meanwhile, Total gross foreign debt slipped by a yearly 8.05% to stand at $32.28B by June 2019, grasping 37.8% of the gross debt over the same period.
In turn, Net public debt which is government debt excluding public sector deposits at commercial banks and the central bank, increased by an annual 5.86% to reach $76.48B by June 2019.
Gross Public Debt by June (in $B)
Source: Ministry of Finance