Lebanon's finance minister said Thursday the country's new government is weighing whether to pay or default on its $1.2 billion Eurobond maturing next month, amid an economic crisis that has sparked months of unrest.
Lebanon is facing a deepening liquidity crunch and a soaring public debt. Lebanese banks raised interest rates in a bid to attract foreign investments -- but now the influx of foreign currencies has dried up and the Central Bank's foreign currency reserves are shrinking.
The new government, headed by Prime Minister Hassan Diab, was voted into office earlier this week by Parliament and is facing snowballing political and economic crises.