Finance minister pledges Saudi support for Lebanon

Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan says Saudi Arabia is "a very important catalyst of stability in Lebanon."

DUBAI - Saudi Arabia will support Lebanon "all the way" to protect its stability, the Saudi finance minister said, after the kingdom's rival Qatar announced it would buy $500 million US dollar bonds issued by Beirut to support the Lebanese economy.

Lebanon has one of the world's highest levels of public debt as a proportion of national output and its economy is stagnant. International lenders are seeking urgent reforms before releasing billions of dollars in investment, but Lebanon still has no government more than eight months after an election.

Qatar, which is locked in a bitter diplomatic dispute with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, said on Monday it would invest $500 million in Lebanese government bonds to support the country's economy.

Asked if Riyadh was prepared to make a similar commitment, Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan told CNBC: "Saudi Arabia has been, and continues to be, a very important catalyst of stability in Lebanon."

"We are interested to see stability in Lebanon and we will support Lebanon all, all the way," he said in the interview, of which a transcript was made available on Wednesday.

Saudi Arabia has been a long-standing supporter of Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri, who has Saudi citizenship.

However relations with Lebanon are seen as less strong after Hariri was summoned to Riyadh a year ago to announce on television that he would resign as Lebanese prime minister, until France intervened and he returned to Beirut.

Saudi Arabia denied accusations that it was holding Hariri hostage over its opposition to the influence of Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon's government.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut diplomatic, trade and transport ties with Qatar in June 2017 over accusations that Doha supports terrorism and is cosying up to their arch foe Iran, charges Qatar denies.