Lebanon net public debt at $49.1bn at end-2012

BEIRUT | iloubnan.info - February 10, 2013, 11h06

Lebanon's gross public debt reached $57.7bn at the end of 2012, constituting a rise of 7.5% from end-2011. Domestic debt totaled $33.3bn at end-2012, rising by 1.7% from a year earlier; while external debt stood at $24.4bn, up by 16.5% from the end of 2011.

The rise in external debt was caused in part by a swap operation in June when the Finance Ministry issued three new Eurobonds totaling $2bn that were used for early redemption and cancellation of Lebanese pound-denominated Treasury bills held by the Central Bank of Lebanon.

Local currency debt accounted for 57.7% of gross public debt at end-2012 compared to 61% a year earlier, while foreign currency-denominated debt represented 42.3% of the total at the end of 2012 relative to 39% a year earlier.

The weighted interest rate on outstanding Treasury bills was 6.54%, while the weighted interest rate on Eurobonds was 6.66% at the end of 2012. Further, the weighted life on Eurobonds was 6.06 years, while that on Treasury bills was 1,105 days.

Commercial banks accounted for 54.3% of the local public debt at the end of 2012 compared to 51% a year earlier. They were followed by the Central Bank with 30%, down from 33.2% at end-2011; while public agencies, financial institutions and the general public accounted for 15.7% of local debt compared to 15.8% a year earlier.

Eurobond holders, foreign private sector loans and special Tbills in foreign currencies accounted for 89.5% of the external debt, followed by foreign governments with 5.4%, multilateral institutions with 4.4%, and Paris II loans with 0.8%. Net public debt, which excludes the public sector's deposits at the Central Bank and at commercial banks from overall debt figures, increased annually by 6% to $49.1bn.

In parallel, the gross market debt accounted for about 64% of total public debt. Gross market debt is the total public debt less the portfolios of the Central Bank, the National Social Security Fund, bilateral and multilateral loans, as well as Paris II and Paris III related debt.

Source : ?Lebanon This Week?, the economic publication of the Byblos Bank Group

Source: http://www.iloubnan.info/business/77437/Lebanon-net-public-debt-at-491bn-at-end-2012

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