Bteish Says Moody’s Report 'Unintimidating' and Lebanon Adheres to Pledges

After Moody’s credit analysis of Lebanon that drew controversy, Economy Minister Mansour Bteish said Moody’s warning is part of its job and that Lebanon abides by its commitments.

“Moody's warnings are part of its work and we have to do our job,” so that we do not fall into the risks it warned us about, said Bteish in remarks he made on Twitter.

“There is no justification for intimidation,” he added, “Lebanon abides by its commitments,” he said, referring to the over $11 billion in foreign aid pledged at last year’s CEDRE conference in Paris to finance investment and infrastructure projects in Lebanon.

Early this week, Moody's said the slowing capital inflows and weak deposit growth, increases the risk of a government response that will include a debt rescheduling or another liability management exercise that may constitute a default.

According to Moody's, the ratio of public debt to Lebanon's GDP is the highest in comparison with the countries that have been classified. The interest rate of total revenues is 46.9%, the highest percentage of all countries, despite the austerity measure taken by the government to control the state of public finances in the draft budget.