According to statistics published by the Association of Banks in Lebanon (ABL), gross public debt widened by 0.43% ($416.58 million) during the month of March 2021 to LBP 146,624 billion ($97.26 billion), up from LBP 145,996 billion ($96.85 billion) a month earlier. The share of Lebanese banks of LBP-denominated debt fell to 25.40% in March (down from 25.5% in February), while the share of Banque Du Liban increased to around 61.8% (up from 61.7% in February) and that of the non-banking sector remaining flat at 12.8%. As far as foreign currency-denominated debt is concerned, sovereign debt in the form of Republic of Lebanon Eurobonds constituted 94.3% of total foreign currency debt, followed by lines of credit obtained through multilateral agreements (4.0%) and bilateral facilities (1.6%).

The average maturity of debt denominated in domestic currency narrowed to 4.51 years in March 2021 down from 4.55 years in February, with the weighted average annual interest rate on local currency debt dropping to 6.50% in March, down from 6.51% in February. As far as the weighted average annual interest rate and weighted maturity of foreign currency debt are concerned, the ABL no longer publishes these statistics as a result of the government’s decision to suspend the payment of Eurobonds in March 2020.