Lebanon Moody’s Rating Cut to Same Grade as Venezuela

A Lebanese anti-government protester, wrapped in a national flag, stands in front of a road blocked with burning tyres and overtunrned garbage dumpsteres in Beirut. (File photo: Reuters)
A Lebanese anti-government protester, wrapped in a national flag, stands in front of a road blocked with burning tyres and overtunrned garbage dumpsteres in Beirut. (File photo: Reuters)
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Lebanon Moody’s Rating Cut to Same Grade as Venezuela

A Lebanese anti-government protester, wrapped in a national flag, stands in front of a road blocked with burning tyres and overtunrned garbage dumpsteres in Beirut. (File photo: Reuters)
A Lebanese anti-government protester, wrapped in a national flag, stands in front of a road blocked with burning tyres and overtunrned garbage dumpsteres in Beirut. (File photo: Reuters)

Lebanon had its rating cut to the lowest grade by Moody’s Investors Service, which said that bond investors will likely suffer major losses on their holdings as the government struggles to secure aid to ease a crippling financial crisis.

Moody’s lowered Lebanon’s credit score to C from Ca, the same level as crisis-ravaged Venezuela. It reflects Moody’s “assessment that the losses incurred by bondholders through Lebanon’s current default are likely to exceed 65 percent,” the agency said in a statement.

“In the absence of key steps toward plausible economic and fiscal policy reform, official external funding support to accompany a government debt restructuring is not forthcoming.”

Lebanon, which has already defaulted on billions of dollars in debt this year, is struggling to secure an International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan deal amid crisis.

However, Lebanon's Economy Minister Raoul Nehme said in an interview with Bloomberg that the country may only count on the IMF for as little as half the bailout it had originally sought.

With talks over a $10 billion loan program stalling for much of this month, the IMF could provide an amount in a range of $5 billion to $9 billion, Nehme said.

Should negotiations succeed, Lebanon will look to cover the rest of its $30 billion in total needs by seeking help from allies and capitalizing on pledges of about $11 billion made by international donors in 2018 in exchange for a promise of reforms, according to Nehme.

“All of them are waiting for the IMF, in my opinion,” he said.

Without an IMF bailout, Lebanon is looking at a “real black scenario,” and officials are working hard to secure a package as quickly as possible, he stressed.



China Vows Tougher Action against Smuggling of Strategic Minerals

A woman holds an umbrella to shelter from the sun walks along a street in Beijing, China, Thursday, July 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)
A woman holds an umbrella to shelter from the sun walks along a street in Beijing, China, Thursday, July 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)
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China Vows Tougher Action against Smuggling of Strategic Minerals

A woman holds an umbrella to shelter from the sun walks along a street in Beijing, China, Thursday, July 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)
A woman holds an umbrella to shelter from the sun walks along a street in Beijing, China, Thursday, July 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

China vowed on Saturday to step up a crackdown and toughen law enforcement against smuggling of strategic minerals seen as vital to national security and critical for development.

The remarks by the commerce ministry came a day after the state security ministry accused foreign spy agencies of having tried to "steal" rare earths and pledged to crack down on infiltration and espionage targeting the critical sector.

The world's largest supplier of dozens of strategic minerals, China began imposing export curbs in 2023 on supplies vital to sectors ranging from chipmaking and the energy transition to defense.

The commerce ministry remarks, describing smuggling and export of strategic minerals as a severe problem to be combated, came at a meeting of officials responsible for export control coordination and other government bodies.

"Cases of smuggling by a small number of criminals for their own selfish interests and collusion between domestic and foreign parties are still occurring," it said in a statement.

Evasive methods such as false declarations and third-country transshipment were taking on increasingly covert forms, it added, urging government bodies to prevent illegal outflows of strategic minerals and related technologies.

China has adopted a "zero-tolerance" approach to smuggling and export of strategic minerals, which it will fight with a heavy hand, through special efforts to toughen law enforcement, the ministry said.

In May China said it would strengthen controls on the entire supply chains of strategic mineral exports while tightening its grip on materials deemed crucial to national interest.

Earlier, Beijing launched a special campaign to tackle smuggling of strategic minerals such as gallium, germanium, antimony, tungsten and some rare earths.