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. 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.

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.