NMC Health has discovered almost $3bn of debt hidden from its board that has been used for unknown purposes, in the latest disastrous revelation to hit the Middle Eastern-focused healthcare group, the Financial Times reported. The company, which until its suspension last month traded in the FTSE 100, said it had identified more than $2.7bn in debt facilities that had previously not been disclosed to, or approved by, the board. This takes its group debt to more than twice as much as the reported $2.1bn.

Two of Dubai’s biggest banks bought loans made to DXB Entertainments PJSC from other regional lenders as part of plans by its majority owner to support the struggling theme park operator, according to people with knowledge of the matter, Bloomberg News reported. Emirates NBD PJSC and Dubai Islamic Bank PJSC acquired the debt from mainly non-United Arab Emirates-based lenders at a discount so Meraas Holding LLC can restructure the park operator with a small group of Dubai-based banks, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private.

Lebanon is set to default on its debts for the first time on Monday as its foreign currency reserves plummet to critically low levels, the Financial Times reported. Prime minister Hassan Diab has said that Lebanon will not be able to pay a $1.2bn Eurobond that matures on Monday as the country’s economic crisis deepens. The government is now preparing for negotiations with its creditors as it grapples with debts of more than $90bn, equivalent to about 170 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product.

Moody’s downgraded Oman’s credit rating deeper into junk territory on Thursday citing the Arab country’s lower fiscal strength, evident in its higher government debt and weaker debt affordability metrics than the ratings agency expected. Moody's cut Oman's rating here to 'Ba2' from 'Ba1' and changed the outlook to stable, Reuters reported. On Feb. 23, Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said said the government would work to reduce public debt and restructure public institutions and companies to bolster the economy.

Lebanon’s financial prosecutor has frozen the assets of almost half the crisis-hit country’s banks and their executives, piling further pressure on an already stressed financial sector, the Financial Times reported. The move against the banking sector, once seen as the pillar of Lebanon’s economy, comes as Beirut’s worst financial crisis for decades pushes the heavily indebted government towards its first default, and as popular fury towards the country’s ruling classes has focused on financial elites.

A majority of Lebanese MPs oppose paying looming Eurobond maturities, even if that leads to default, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said on Wednesday, compounding doubts over whether the heavily indebted state will meet a March 9 repayment, Reuters reported. Lebanon is facing an unprecedented economic and financial crisis, which came to a head last year as capital inflows slowed and protests erupted against the ruling elite. Its next maturity is a $1.2 billion Eurobond due on March 9.

Lebanese officials are considering asking local banks to buy back Eurobonds they sold to foreign funds, after the transactions gave outside creditors more leverage in a potential restructuring discussion if the government decides to default, former Finance Minister Ali Hasan Khalil said, Bloomberg News reported.

Lebanon’s financial and legal advisers are in talks with holders of its dollar-denominated debt about restructuring but have not reached a deal, a source close to the government said on Monday, Reuters reported. The country is widely expected to restructure the sovereign bonds after a long-brewing economic crisis, which came to a head last year as capital inflows slowed and protests erupted against Lebanon’s ruling elite over corruption and bad governance.

NMC Health has called on lenders for time to stabilise its finances, as the embattled healthcare group looks to safeguard cash and sustain its operations. The company, which is under investigation by UK regulators, said on Monday that it had sought a so-called “informal standstill” agreement in which lenders hold off exercising any “rights and remedies” they may have in the event of “current or future defaults,” the Financial Times reported.

Lebanon’s banking lobby made a last-ditch appeal to the government to avoid a debt default and instead offer a swap into new notes for all bondholders, Bloomberg News reported. In the clutches of its worst financial crisis in decades, Lebanon is running out of time to decide how to handle a debt burden that economists say is no longer sustainable. It faces a choice of repaying more than $1.2 billion of Eurobonds due March 9 or restructuring liabilities to preserve dwindling foreign-exchange reserves.