CDS spreads stable

Sovereign debt less risky than Iraq and Egypt's

The country maintained a stable sovereign risk profile in 2012. According to bond pricing firm CMA Datavision, spreads on five-year credit default swaps (CDS) stood at 441 basis points at end-December, tightening by 1.4 percent year-on-year.

The five-year cumulative probability of default (CPD), which measures the probability of an issuer being unable to honor its debt obligations, stood at 27.5 percent, similar to the end-2011 level. Thus, for the second consecutive year, Lebanon ranked ninth among the ten countries with the most risky sovereign debts. Lebanese debt was less risky than that of Iraq and Egypt, whose CPD was 28.1 percent and 30.4 percent respectively. Argentina and Cyprus had the riskiest sovereign debts, with a CPD of 61.4 percent and 60.5 percent respectively. Spain came in tenth place with a CPD of 23.5 percent.

Public debt stood at $57.8 billion at end-November 2012, growing by $3.5 billion in one year.