It has attracted a significant interest from local and international investors. “The successful closure of the bond issue demonstrates the strong confidence of investors in the government’s ability to implement reforms and in the sound Lebanese economy,” the Ministry said.

The issuance has two tranches of $250 million each. The first tranche matures in five years. The second matures in 15 years. The five year bonds which will have a coupon rate of 5,875 percent saw higher demand by investors, according to the Ministry. The 15-year bonds will yield nearly 7 percent.

The Ministry described the issuance as “very successful”. Foreign companies subscribed participation was 27 percent of the overall issues. The Ministry attributed the successful closure of the bond issuance to several factors including the low interest rates, the prudent banking sector, central bank policies, and to the decrease in the country’s debt-to-GDP. It said that the government will benefit from falling interest rates to obtain loans at lower rates. This “will help refinance part of the debt that matures in 2010,” said the Ministry.

The high demand for the issuance proves that Lebanon was isolated from the impacts of the global financial meltdown and Dubai’s emerging debt crisis, said the Ministry.  Société Générale, Bank of Beirut (BOB), and CitiBank were the lead managers of the transaction.