Dec 02 2009 |
more articles from
|
Lebanon successfully issues $500 million in Eurobonds - Hassan
02 December 2009
BEIRUT: New Finance Minister Raya Haffar Hassan said Tuesday that the government has successfully issued $500 million in Eurobonds to refinance the public debt and stressed that all ministers are keen to implement economic reforms. The minister also suggested that the government may consider raising taxes or value added taxes if more investments in infrastructure such as building more power plants become crucial.
In her first press conference since she assumed her new post, Hassan said that the new bond issue was quickly oversubscribed by Lebanese and foreign investors.
The new bond is split into two categories, the first with a five year maturity and the second is for 15 years.
But Hassan said that the rates and yields on these bonds are still being negotiated with the investors.
The
Finance Ministry
has repeatedly said it won’t have any problem in refinancing the maturing Eurobonds and treasury bills in 2010 because the Lebanese market is very liquid.
The successive Lebanese governments have been tapping the local and international markets to cover the cost of debt servicing which represent more than 45 percent of the total spending of the
Finance Ministry
.
“We are benefitting from the fall of interest rates both in the local and international markets and this will make it easier for us to seek loans at low rates,” Hassan said.
Commenting on the ministerial statement, Hassan said that all ministers have demonstrated readiness to cooperate with Prime Minister Saad Hariri to implement the remaining items in the Paris III donor conference paper as well as to speed up the privatization of state owned assets.
She denied that Telecom Minister Cherbel Nahas is against privatization of the telecom sector in Lebanon.
“Actually, Nahas to my surprise never said that he opposes privatization but he wants a specific mechanism to sell part of these assets to the private sector,” Hassan said.
Privatization is a key element in the Paris III paper but the previous cabinets failed to achieve this goal due to sharp political differences, security incidents and the ravaging Israeli war on Lebanon in July 2006.
“Privatization will not only help reduce the public debt but it will boost the economy as more investors will be encouraged to make investments in the telecom sector,” Hassan said.
She noted that Nahas had not yet decided what scenario for privatization he would choose.
“There are several options and one of them is to sell part of assets to private companies while the state retains a certain share and allowing the Lebanese public to buy a stake through initial public offerings,” Hassan said.
The minister admitted that privatizing electricity cannot be accomplished soon because the first thing needed is the restructuring of
Eelectricite du Liban
.
She added that Energy and Water Minister Jebran Bassil had promised during the discussions he would raise production in a certain period of time.
Hassan said that if increasing electricity production would cost $1 billion to $2 billion then Bassil and his team must find proper financing because the government is unable to assume this task.
“There are many ways for the private sector to take part in government projects and they are not necessarily t confined to titles of privatization,” the minister said.
As for the possibility of new taxes, she said this step depends on whether spending on investment projects rises substantially.
She noted that the prime minister was also keen to push for the improvement of social benefits in order to reduce poverty in Lebanon.
“We are already conducting a survey on poverty to determine the real numbers of impoverished people and where they are located.”
Hassan is also working on modernizing the tax system and unify tax procedures.
“We should also work on plans to install broadband in Lebanon as this measure will stimulate the economy and create more jobs.”
© Copyright The Daily Star 2009.
Zawya Comment Policy
-
Zawya encourages you to add a comment to this discussion. You agree that when you add content to this discussion your comments will not:
1.1 Contain any material which is libelous or defamatory of any person, is obscene, offensive, hateful or inflammatory or causes damage to the reputation of any person or organisation.
1.2 Promote sexually explicit material, violence, discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age or any illegal activity.
1.3 Be made in breach of any legal duty owed to a third party, such as a contractual duty or a duty of confidence.
1.4 Be threatening, abuse or invade another's privacy, or cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety.
1.5 Be used to impersonate any person, to misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any person, or be likely to deceive any person.
1.6 Give the impression that they represent Zawya.
1.7 Advocate, promote or assist any unlawful act such as (by way of example only) copyright infringement or computer misuse. - The content posted on www.zawya.com is created by members of the public. The views expressed are theirs and unless specifically stated are not those of Zawya. Zawya reserves the right to review all comments prior to posting and edit or delete any contribution, but Zawya is not responsible for and can not be held liable for any content posted by members of the public on www.zawya.com.
- Zawya is not responsible for the availability or content of any third party sites that are accessible through www.zawya.com. Any links to third party websites from www.zawya.com do not amount to any endorsement of that site by Zawya and any use of that site by you is at your own risk.
- By submitting your comment, you hereby give Zawya the right, but not the obligation, to post, air, edit, exhibit, telecast, webcast, re-use, publish, reproduce, use, license, print, distribute or otherwise use your comments worldwide, in perpetuity.
Copyright © 2012 Zawya Ltd. All rights reserved. |
provided by www.zawya.com |
Post Your Comment