Editing Economy of Lebanon (section)

===== External debt =====
After the civil war, the Lebanese government resorted to massive borrowing to finance its post-war restructuring. The yearly growth of gross debt between 1993 and 1995 was 123 percent and between 1995 and 2000 was 171 percent.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Chbeir|first=Rouba|date=18 May 2019|title=A Historical Analysis of Lebanon's Public Debt|url=https://blog.blominvestbank.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/A-Historical-Analysis-of-Lebanon’s-Public-Debt.pdf}}</ref> Between 2005 and 2018, the yearly growth of debt has averaged around 22 percent, and in comparison the GDP growth rate for the same period has been in single digits with an exception of 2009. This high debt has caused Lebanon to spend a big chunk of its revenues in debt servicing; on average, close to 45 percent is spent by the government as interest payments. In 1996, interest payments made up almost 68 percent of that year's budget deficit.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Salti|first=Nisreen|title=No Country for Poor Men: How Lebanon's Debt Has Exacerbated Inequality|url=https://carnegie-mec.org/2019/09/17/no-country-for-poor-men-how-lebanon-s-debt-has-exacerbated-inequality-pub-79852|access-date=2020-09-19|website=Carnegie Middle East Center|language=en}}</ref> With debt piling up and growth being minuscule, Lebanon's debt to GDP ratio reached 178 percent by the end of 2019, which makes it the third most indebted country after [[Greece]] and [[Japan]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Lebanon's Deepening Economic Crisis Laid Bare by Beirut Blast|date=13 August 2020 |url=https://www.bloombergquint.com/businessweek/beirut-explosion-lebanon-was-already-in-an-economic-crisis-before-the-blast|access-date=2020-09-19|publisher=BloombergQuint|language=en}}</ref> In 2020, Beirut defaulted on a $1.2 billion [[Eurobond (external bond)|external bond]], the first sovereign default in its history. The nation is currently in discussions with a group of creditors about a possible restructuring of a defaulted Eurobond.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Lebanon Will Default on Foreign Debt Payment Amid Deepening Economic Crisis|newspaper=The New York Times|date=7 March 2020|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/07/world/middleeast/lebanon-debt-financial-crisis.html|last1=Yee|first1=Vivian}}, New York Times</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Distressed-Debt Funds Team Up as Lebanon Bonds Plunge to Records|website=[[Bloomberg News]] |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-12/lebanon-s-bonds-plunge-to-record-lows-as-greylock-forms-group, }}Bloomberg News</ref> A successful restructuring would allow the country to again access external credit markets.