According to statistics published by the Association of Banks in Lebanon (ABL), gross public debt widened by 0.56% ($524.71 million) during the month of August 2020 to LBP 142,104 billion ($94.26 billion), up from LBP 141,313 billion ($93.74 billion) a month earlier. The share of Lebanese banks of LBP-denominated debt fell to 27.6% in August (down from 27.7% in July), with the share of Banque Du Liban increasing to 59.6% (up from 59.3% in July) and that of the non-banking sector dropping to 12.8% (down from 13.0% in July). As far as foreign currency-denominated debt is concerned, sovereign debt in the form of Republic of Lebanon Eurobonds constituted 94.1% of total foreign currency debt, followed by lines of credit obtained through multilateral agreements (4.0%) and bilateral facilities (1.7%).

The average maturity of debt denominated in domestic currency contracted to 4.66 years in August 2020, with the weighted average annual interest rate on local currency debt remaining constant at 6.49%. As far as the weighted average annual interest rate and weighted maturity on foreign currency debt are concerned, the ABL is no longer publishing these statistics since the government’s decision to suspend the payment of Eurobonds in March 2020.