The Lebanese government has pledged to make rapid progress on reforms in the face of a deepening economic crisis that prompted Fitch to downgrade Lebanon's rating to CCC, while Standard & Poor's kept Lebanon's credit rating at B- / B.
"The current crisis has been forming for many years, but now everyone is helping to address its causes," said Michel Aoun, the Lebanese President after Fitch cut Lebanon’s credit rating due to debt-servicing concerns.
Fitch said that the outlook remains negative, showing that Lebanon's foreign exchange reserves are sufficient to service government debt in the near term.
The Lebanese Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil told Reuters that “Fitch and Standard & Poor's reports underlined the urgent need for reform, which the government is long overdue”, pointing out that “this classification is a reminder to Lebanon that the government's work is not a luxury but a necessity in the coming stage.”
Lebanon faces one of the largest public debt burdens in the world, at 150 percent of GDP, and has been slow in its economic growth for years. The Government finances, overwhelmed by corruption and waste, are under pressure because of the public sector inflation, debt servicing costs and subsidies by the state power company.
Source (Al-Khaleej newspaper, Edited)
