Figures issued by Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) indicate that Lebanon's external debt posted a return of 3.28% in April 2019, constituting the second highest return among 77 emerging markets included in ICE's External Debt EM Sovereign Index. Lebanon's external debt also registered the second highest return among 28 countries in the Middle East & Africa region, as well as among 45 markets in the Central & Eastern Europe and the Middle East & Africa (CEEMEA) region. Lebanon outperformed the emerging markets' return of 0.07% and the 'B'-rated sovereigns' return of           -1.35% in April 2019. 

Further, Lebanon's external debt posted a return of 6.77% in the first four months of 2019, which outperformed the overall emerging markets' return of 5.63% in the covered period. It registered the 19th highest return in the Middle East & Africa region, the 24th highest return in the CEEMEA region, as well as the 41st highest in emerging markets during the first four months of 2019. 

In parallel, ICE indicated that the option-adjusted spread on Lebanese Eurobonds was 758 basis points at the end of April 2019 compared to 793 basis points at end-2018. The spread on Lebanese Eurobonds was the second widest in the CEEMEA region and the fourth widest among emerging markets. It was wider than the emerging markets' overall spread of 284 basis points at the end of April 2019.