Lebanon’s Finance Ministry is set to announce its plan to update the country’s Eurobond holders on their economic plans and principles for debt restructuring on March 27th.
The plans will be presented in the form of a webcast. Interested parties are expected to register by 4:30 pm Beirut time on March 27.
The webcast is set to start at 5:00 pm and the ministry will “update holders of Lebanon’s Eurobonds on the latest macroeconomic developments, and provide an overview of the government’s reform plan and the guiding principles for the public debt restructuring.”
On March 23rd, the government had announced that they would no longer pay all the maturing Eurobonds due to the ongoing dollar crisis.
The ministry’s statement further says that the government made this decision in order to focus on launching a plan to restore stability to the country’s economy and revive it in the wake of global instability.
This came as no surprise to bankers who expected this move after Lebanon had officially defaulted on its debts at the beginning of March.
The government has previously made it clear that they are going to focus on restructuring the public debt, which is valued at about $91 billion, or 170% of the GDP.
The ministry has not yet publicly stated what its plans may be but they have previously enlisted the help of Morgan Stanley to analyze how they are to restructure their debts.
Experts have made it clear before that Lebanon is no position to restructure its debts and that the IMF’s bailout plan has been Lebanon’s only option. Lebanon has officially accepted the support of the IMF.
Hezbollah had shown that it has no objection to the plan as long as it doesn’t go against Lebanese interests, despite previously expressing sentiments that disapprove of the IMF.
Lebanon’s future seems more and more uncertain as the world is now also moving towards a recession due to the Coronavirus. Will the Finance Ministry be able to come up with an economic plan that can reinvigorate Lebanon’s economy?
