According to the Ministry of Finance’s (MoF) latest debt report, Lebanon’s gross public debt increased annually by 9.10% to $93.14B, by May 2020.
In details, debt in local currency (denominated in LBP) stood at $58.54B by May 2020, registering a 9.98% year-on-year growth. Hence, domestic debt constituted 62.85% of the total public debt, compared to last year’s smaller share of 62.35%.
Looking at net domestic debt, which excludes public sector deposits with the central bank and commercial banks, it increased by 9.52% annually to $83.97B by May 2020.
As for debt denominated in foreign currency (namely in USD), it expanded by a yearly 7.64% to $34.60B over the same period. Therefore, total foreign debt grasped a stake of 37.15% of the total public debt by May 2020, compared to last year’s share of 37.65%.
Worth mentioning, $2.75B of the total debt represents the Unpaid Eurobonds that matured in April 2020, their coupons and accrued interests. In details, the government had announced in March that it will refrain from making payments on all dollar-denominated Eurobonds as it seeks to negotiate an arrangement with its bondholders and discuss the restructuring of its debt. To-date though, no major decisions regarding the restructuring of Lebanon’s public debt have been taken.
Breakdown of Gross Public Debt by May (in $Billions)
Source: MOF