Lebanon is at stake … the country is on the brink!

Lebanon is at stake. On August 23, Standard & Poor's should issue its rating for Lebanon, while a reduction from (-B) to + (CCC) is expected to become "Scrap" again after Moody & It's lowered on January 21st. (B3) to (Caa1). The deterioration of credit ratings of two international rating agencies will result in "low confidence", according to Nbadib Gabriel, chief economist of Byblos Bank, as well as "high borrowing costs in international markets" . Experts fear that the public debt will become more uncontrollable, which is largely in line with the recent report of the fourth IMF mission, but this is not the only fear. Abdel Halim Fadlallah, head of the Advisory Center for Studies and Documentation, fears that "if the rate is reduced, it will be used to push for radical policies aimed at hitting the public sector and hampering the reform measures that should be taken" .

Uncertainties A downgrade of Standard & Poor's is possible since Moody's decision to downgrade earlier this year. Nevertheless, it was hoped that the government could swiftly approve the 2019 budget and incorporate radical reforms pushing rating agencies to reconsider their "negative" prospects for public debt, deficit and financial flows. However, with the delay of budget adoption and the emptiness of the expected reforms, it is necessary to include confused data on the reduction of public debt service of 1 trillion pounds, in addition to the influx unsatisfactory revenue, and reduce spending by freezing the estimated $ 2 billion in order payments, and the deterioration of the balance of payments deficit accelerated, coupled with the withdrawal of capital from Lebanon and the Foreign data has been leaked to the Prime Minister, the Bank of Lebanon and the Ministry of Finance, the possibility that Standard & Poor's downgrade Lebanon's rating to (+ CCC) between August and September.

In light of this development, informed sources said that several extended bilateral meetings had taken place, including with Prime Minister Saad Hariri and his economic team, Finance Minister Ali Hbadan Khalil, Governor of the Bank of Lebanon, Riad Salameh and the Minister of Labor, Camille Boulusman. "Standard & Poor's Gupta gold, to convince her to maintain the current ranking of Lebanon, that is to say at level (B3). "Lebanon is informed by the Agency that the report will be published on 23 August without the IAEA team going to Lebanon, but on the basis of contacts with the Ministry of the Environment. Finance and the Bank of Lebanon, "the sources said.

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