Lebanon's Finance Minister: 'Steps Needed After Long-term Investment Rating Downgraded '

FILE PHOTO: Minister Ali Hassan Khalil speaks during a meeting in Beirut.
FILE PHOTO: Minister Ali Hassan Khalil speaks during a meeting in Beirut.
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Lebanon's Finance Minister: 'Steps Needed After Long-term Investment Rating Downgraded '

FILE PHOTO: Minister Ali Hassan Khalil speaks during a meeting in Beirut.
FILE PHOTO: Minister Ali Hassan Khalil speaks during a meeting in Beirut.

Lebanon's Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil said a report by Moody's Investors Service that downgraded the country's long-term investment ratings reflects the need for quickly forming a new government and implementing reforms, the Associated Press (AP) reported.

Khalil's statement came in a tweet Tuesday after Moody's downgraded the Lebanon's issuer ratings to Caa1 from B3.

The outlook was changed to stable from negative.

Moody's said its decision reflects the heightened risk that the government's response to increased liquidity and financial stability risks will include "a debt rescheduling or other liability management exercise that may constitute a default under Moody's definition," according to AP.

Lebanon's economy has been under pressure with a debt of $85 billion equal to 150 percent of its GDP and little growth.



Saudi Firm Manara May Invest in Pakistan's Reko Diq Mine

Trucks working in a mineral mine (Saudi Public Investment Fund)
Trucks working in a mineral mine (Saudi Public Investment Fund)
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Saudi Firm Manara May Invest in Pakistan's Reko Diq Mine

Trucks working in a mineral mine (Saudi Public Investment Fund)
Trucks working in a mineral mine (Saudi Public Investment Fund)

Saudi Arabian mining company Manara Minerals could invest in Pakistan's Reko Diq mine in the next two quarters, Pakistani Petroleum Minister Musadik Malik said on Tuesday.

Manara, a joint venture between state-controlled miner Ma'aden and the $925-billion Public Investment Fund (PIF), was set up as part of the Kingdom's efforts to diversify its economy away from oil, including by buying minority stakes in assets overseas.

“I'm very hopeful that in the next quarter or two we will have very big announcements,” Malik said on the sidelines of the Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh, adding they would be copper-related.

“So we're very hopeful that this year, we will make some big announcements, both in the way of Reko Diq, but hopefully also” in mines around it, he added.

Asked if Manara would be involved, Malik said, “why not, of course.”

Executives from Manara visited Pakistan in May last year for talks about buying a stake in the Reko Diq mine, considered one of the world's largest underdeveloped cooper-gold areas by global mining company Barrick Gold, which owns the project jointly with Pakistan.

Manara's then-acting chief executive Robert Wilt, now CEO of Ma'aden, told Reuters that a stake in Reko Diq was among several opportunities the company was evaluating.