The official February figures released by Lebanon's Central Bank show a surplus in the balance of payments amounting to $100.3 million and a stable yearly 16.8% growth of public debt.
Other figures indicate an increase of domestic debt by 11.74% and the foreign debt captured 27.3% of total public debt, according to the Lebanese Daily Star. International reserves of the Central Bank registered a monthly increase of $35.8 million and total foreign reserves amounted to $10.15 billion. The average lending bank's interest rate for Lebanese Pounds continued its current downtrend and the dollarizated bank rate deposits dropped down to 61.11% at the end of February from 61.22 %in January.
© 2000 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
