The Lebanese gross public debt amounted to $69.46B (LBP 104,708B), or 146.24% of Lebanon’s GDP, by April 2015, broadening by 7.06% year-on-year (y-o-y) and 4.34% year-to-date (y-t-d).
Debt in domestic currency, representing 60.5% of total gross debt, grew by an annual 8.45% to reach $42.01B, while foreign currency debt escalated by 5.01% y-o-y to stand at $27.45B, over the same period. The share of domestic debt has risen by 10 percentage points in six years as investors probably preferred to subscribe to domestic currency denominated debt for its more attractive yields.
The Net Public Debt, which deducts public sector deposits at commercial banks and the Central Bank (BdL), widened by 7.83% annually to $58.97B and recorded a 2.90% y-t-d increase by April.
Commercial banks remained the largest subscribers of Treasury bills and bonds with a share of 48.8% (59.9% in 2010), followed by 34.4% (15.4% in 2010) stake for BdL and 16.8% (16.7% in 2010) for the non-banking sector.
Share of Local Debt from Gross Public Debt by April
Source: Association of Banks in Lebanon