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| Lebanon defaults on its $1.2bn Eurobond debt, PM says corruption ‘has eaten the state’ | |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Lebanon’s PM Hassan Diab has announced his country is unable to pay the $1.2 billion Eurobond due on March 9 and will default for the first time. This comes amid a government crisis and currency plummeting by 40 percent. | Lebanon’s PM Hassan Diab has announced his country is unable to pay the $1.2 billion Eurobond due on March 9 and will default for the first time. This comes amid a government crisis and currency plummeting by 40 percent. |
| The move to not pay the outstanding debt and to launch upcoming negotiations with creditors was made unanimously at a cabinet meeting before Diab made the announcement on Saturday. | The move to not pay the outstanding debt and to launch upcoming negotiations with creditors was made unanimously at a cabinet meeting before Diab made the announcement on Saturday. |
| This decision marks the country's first ever default on its sovereign debt. | This decision marks the country's first ever default on its sovereign debt. |
| Diab says it is impossible to pay creditors at a time when his own country faces so many struggles. | Diab says it is impossible to pay creditors at a time when his own country faces so many struggles. |
| "How can we pay creditors outside while Lebanese can't get their money from their bank accounts? How can we pay creditors while hospitals have a shortage of medical supplies? How can we pay to the creditors while there are people on the streets who can't afford to buy bread?" he said. | |
| Lebanon's debt is now equal to 170 percent its GDP (gross domestic product), which the president says is more than the country can currently "bear." | Lebanon's debt is now equal to 170 percent its GDP (gross domestic product), which the president says is more than the country can currently "bear." |
| Diab's announcement follows months of anti-government protests, partly motivated by Lebanon's response to their growing economic crisis and crumbling infrastructure. Violent protests broke out in the streets in October after a new tax on the Facebook-owned WhatsApp messaging service was announced. Protests led former Prime Minister Saad Hariri to announce his resignation from office, admitting he had reached a "dead end" in dealing with Lebanon's crises. | Diab's announcement follows months of anti-government protests, partly motivated by Lebanon's response to their growing economic crisis and crumbling infrastructure. Violent protests broke out in the streets in October after a new tax on the Facebook-owned WhatsApp messaging service was announced. Protests led former Prime Minister Saad Hariri to announce his resignation from office, admitting he had reached a "dead end" in dealing with Lebanon's crises. |
| Diab, who became prime minister only in January after being appointed by President Michel Aoun, says "corruption" has "eaten" the state and crippled his country's economy. | Diab, who became prime minister only in January after being appointed by President Michel Aoun, says "corruption" has "eaten" the state and crippled his country's economy. |
| "Corruption was initially shy, then it became bold, and then it became rude, until it became immoral, a major part of the components of the state, power, and society," he tweeted on Saturday. | "Corruption was initially shy, then it became bold, and then it became rude, until it became immoral, a major part of the components of the state, power, and society," he tweeted on Saturday. |