Lebanon's sovereign bonds in biggest daily drops since 2022 - Tradeweb

LONDON, March 30 (Reuters) - Lebanon's sovereign bonds shed as much 1.7 cents in the biggest daily drops since 2022 on Monday as the country continued to get dragged deeper into the escalating Middle East war.

The falls came as Israel pummelled the south of Lebanon and as Iran said its ambassador to Lebanon would remain in his post, defying the Lebanese Foreign Ministry, which has declared him persona non grata and told him to leave.

The country's defaulted debt fell by 1.4-1.7 cents to bid between 24.5-24.9 cents on the dollar, Tradeweb data showed. The bonds had hit six year highs this year, even amid regional turmoil, as investors hoped a weakened Hezbollah could enable political progress toward a debt restructuring.

The Iranian envoy's status has become a point of tension between the government and Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah as the latter fights Israeli troops.