#Lebanon weighs defaulting or paying Eurobond next month

Lebanon weighs defaulting or paying Eurobond next month:

Lebanon’s finance minister said Thursday the country’s new government is weighing whether to pay or default on its $1.2 billion Eurobond maturing next month, amid an economic crisis that has sparked months of unrest.

Lebanon is facing a deepening liquidity crunch and a soaring public debt. Lebanese banks raised interests rates in a bid to attract foreign investments — but now the influx of foreign currencies has dried up and the Central Bank’s foreign currency reserves are shrinking.

“It is not easy,” Ghazi Wazni told reporters before the new Cabinet’s first meeting. He was speaking after reviewing different options with the government’s financial team.

“This is an important decision for the country, depositors, banks, the economic sector and international institutions,” he said, adding that the search for the “right decision” was ongoing.