Lebanon intends to ask for a seven-day grace period for a $1.2 billion Eurobond that matures on March 9, as it is entitled to, in order to give financial advisers more time to draft a restructuring plan, a government source said on Thursday, Reuters reported. Lebanon would seek the seven-day grace period ahead of the March 9 date, the source said. Financial sources said the exercising of the seven-day grace period would make it more likely the government would seek to restructure the March 2020 Eurobond. Lebanon faces two further Eurobond maturities this year, one in April and one in June.

Lebanon has a lot more than just maturing Eurobonds to worry about. In addition to $31bn of those, the Middle Eastern nation’s central bank has $52.5bn of obligations in the form of foreign-currency deposits and certificates of deposit, according to calculations by Toby Iles and Jan Friederich, Hong Kong-based analysts at Fitch Ratings Ltd, Gulf Business reported. Mostly owed to Lebanese banks, these additional debts compound the country’s woes as it grapples with its deepest economic crisis in decades.

Lebanon is trapped in a full-scale emergency. It confronts a debt crisis, with sovereign borrowings amounting to 160 per cent of gross domestic product. It faces a fiscal crisis, with the budget deficit likely to reach 15 per cent of GDP last year, officials acknowledge, the Financial Times reported in a commentary. Then there is the currency crisis. Lebanon is almost out of dollars, in an economy that is 70 per cent dollarised. The Lebanese pound is still pegged to the dollar, but has lost more than 60 per cent of its value in the parallel exchange market.

For the third time in six months, British billionaire Mark Coombs is betting on bonds that many on Wall Street deem destined for default, Bloomberg News reported. Ashmore Group Plc, the $98 billion money manager led by Coombs, has been piling into Lebanon notes due March 9 just as many of its rivals warn a missed payment is all but certain. The firm boosted its holdings to more than 25% of the $1.2 billion of bonds, enough for a blocking stake if there’s a restructuring.

France is looking at options to help Lebanon recover from its financial crisis, including an International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme if Beirut seeks one, a minister said on Monday, Reuters reported. French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire also told reporters in Abu Dhabi that he had discussed the situation in Lebanon with the United Arab Emirates leadership. “We are very concerned,” Le Maire said, adding that the United Arab Emirates and France will decide separately if and how to support the government in Beirut.

Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said said on Sunday the government would work to reduce public debt and restructure public institutions and companies to bolster the economy, Reuters reported. Haitham, in his second public speech since assuming power in January, said the government would create a national framework to tackle unemployment while addressing strained public finances. “We will direct our financial resources in the best way that will guarantee reducing debt and increasing revenues,” he said in the televised speech.

Lebanon was downgraded deeper into junk by two of the three biggest credit rating companies Friday as the nation’s bondholders braced for a potential default next month, Bloomberg News reported. S&P Global Ratings cut the country’s long-term foreign currency rating to CC, following a similar reduction by Moody’s Investors Service to Ca earlier in the day. That puts Lebanon’s rating below the likes of Argentina, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

An International Monetary Fund delegation began meetings Thursday in Lebanon to provide advice on dealing with the country's crippling economic and financial crisis amid concerns the country might default on its Eurobond debt payment for the first time, the International New York Times reported on an Associated Press story. Lebanon is going through its worst economic crisis since the 1975-90 civil war. Since then, the country has been marred by widespread corruption and mismanagement in which billions of dollars were spent on infrastructure, which remains mostly dysfunctional.

NMC Health Plc founder Bavaguthu Raghuram Shetty hired Houlihan Lokey Inc. to explore strategic options for his holding company, including a potential debt restructuring or the sale of some assets, according to people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg News reported. The investment bank is working with BRS Ventures Investment to revamp debt and seek potential investment partners or sell assets from the portfolio, which holds 30 companies including hospital operator NMC and financial services firm Finablr Plc, according to the people.

Lebanon’s financial situation points to a likely restructuring of the country’s massive debt and financial sector to preserve declining foreign currency reserves, Fitch Ratings said Tuesday. The credit rating agency’s report comes as Lebanese officials are debating whether to pay back $1.2 billion worth of Eurobonds that mature on March 9 amid a severe economic and financial crisis, the worst since the country’s 1975-90 civil war, Egypt Independent reported. Lebanon has never defaulted before, and the decision is causing much anxiety in the crisis-hit country.