According to the data released by the Ministry of Finance (MoF), Lebanese gross public debt increased by an annual 8.2% to settle at $92.24B by February 2020.
In details, local currency debt (denominated in LBP) climbed by a yearly 12.96% to $58.17B. Correspondingly, domestic debt composed 63.07% of gross public debt, up from last year’s 60.83% of the total in Feb.2019.
Meanwhile, total debt denominated in foreign currency recorded an uptick of 0.95% year-in-year (YOY) to amount to $34B over the same period. In fact, the foreign debt constituted 36.9% of total gross debt, compared to 39.2% in Feb.2019.
In turn, Lebanon’s total net debt, excluding public sector deposits at commercial banks and the central bank, added 7.86%YOY to $82.56B over the same period.
Lebanon is struggling to deal with diminished foreign-currency reserves and double-digit inflation amid its worst financial crisis in decades. The Government is trying to overhaul about $90 billion of debt and engage in talks with bondholders after the nation failed to honor a $1.2B Eurobond due last month.
Breakdown of Gross Public Debt February in $B
Source: MOF