Lebanon to ask for 7-day grace period for March 9 bond-source

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.

Lebanon would seek the seven-day grace period ahead of the March 9 date, the source said. The Lebanese government this week appointed U.S. investment bank Lazard and law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP as its financial and legal advisers on the widely expected debt restructuring.

Lebanon's long-brewing economic crisis came to a head last year as capital inflows slowed and protests erupted against the ruling elite over corruption and bad governance - root causes of the crisis.