Lebanese president says Beirut will overcome economic crisis

BEIRUT: Lebanon's President Michel Aoun says his country will emerge from its difficult economic conditions by making decisions that boost production.

Aoun's comments Saturday came hours after Fitch Ratings downgraded Lebanon's long-term foreign currency issuer default rating to CCC from B-.

Also Friday, Standard & Poor's Global Ratings affirmed its long- and short-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings for Beirut at B-/B, saying the country's outlook remains negative.

The international rating agency's downgrade is another blow to the small Arab country's struggling economy, which suffers one of the world's highest debt ratios, high unemployment and little growth.

Aoun said in remarks at his summer residence that Lebanon's economic crisis has accumulated for several years, not just the last few. Aoun took office in 2016.