Qatar to buy $500m of Lebanese govt bonds

DOHA, Jan 21 (AFP): Wealthy Qatar said on Monday it will purchase $500 million of government bonds in debt-ridden Lebanon a day after the country's emir visited Beirut to attend the Arab economic summit.

"The state of Qatar will buy Lebanese government bonds valued at 500 million US dollars," Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said in a statement carried by the Qatar News Agency.

The purchase would "strengthen the Lebanese economy", and the decision was taken after a meeting on Monday between Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani and Lebanese President Michel Aoun, he said.

"We wish stability and prosperity for the Lebanese republic and the Lebanese people, and that the Lebanese economy will recover." The move comes amid huge financial strains for the Lebanese government.

Lebanon's finance minister spooked markets earlier this month with comments about the country's public debt, thought to be among one of the worst in the world. Lebanon's economy has looked on the brink of collapse for some time but a Paris conference dubbed CEDRE in April made aid pledges worth $11 billion.