Beirut: Lebanon’s Finance Minister Ali Hasan Khalil met with international and local bankers as the most indebted Arab country prepares to tap the bond market in March.
Representatives from Citigroup, JPMorgan, Barclays, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Natixis, Societe General, Commerzbank, Standard Chartered and Nomura were present at the meeting, his office said in an emailed statement on Monday.
Lebanese officials were studying international markets before the Eurobond sale, Khalil said, especially developments in the US ahead of this month’s Federal Reserve decision on rates at a time of “political ambiguity.”
The war in Syria has battered Lebanon’s economy, pushing more than 1.5 million refugees into the country, closing its only overland trade route and deterring Gulf Arab visitors.
Lebanon issued $6.8 billion (Dh24.97 billion) in Eurobonds in 2015 and 2016, Khalil said, to finance a widening deficit and replace maturing debt.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether any of the banks present at the meeting were mandated to manage the sale.
