Lebanon is planning to issue a new US dollar-denominated bond this year to raise up to $1.5 billion, the central bank governor said on Friday, welcoming a move which would avoid the government using foreign reserves to repay debt.
"We have been informed by the Ministry of Finance that they will do a bond issue before the year ends. They have the legal authority to do it," Governor Riad Salameh said in an interview with Reuters.
"They can issue up to $1.5 billion if they want to use all the legal limits that they have."
He said he expected Lebanon would issue a new economic stimulus package in 2016 worth around $1 billion because the country was struggling to create growth given the political and security situation in the region.