the company will continue to rely upon debt and capital markets for the majority of any necessary long-term funding not provided by operating cash flows .funding decisions will be guided by our capital structure planning objectives .the primary goals of the company 2019s capital structure planning are to maximize financial flexibility and preserve liquidity while reducing interest expense .the majority of international paper 2019s debt is accessed through global public capital markets where we have a wide base of investors .maintaining an investment grade credit rating is an important element of international paper 2019s financing strategy .at december 31 , 2015 , the company held long-term credit ratings of bbb ( stable outlook ) and baa2 ( stable outlook ) by s&p and moody 2019s , respectively .contractual obligations for future payments under existing debt and lease commitments and purchase obligations at december 31 , 2015 , were as follows: .
[['in millions', '2015', '2016', '2017', '2018', '2019', 'thereafter'], ['maturities of long-term debt ( a )', '$ 426', '$ 43', '$ 811', '$ 427', '$ 183', '$ 7436'], ['lease obligations', '118', '95', '72', '55', '41', '128'], ['purchase obligations ( b )', '3001', '541', '447', '371', '358', '1579'], ['total ( c )', '$ 3545', '$ 679', '$ 1330', '$ 853', '$ 582', '$ 9143']]
( a ) total debt includes scheduled principal payments only .( b ) includes $ 2.1 billion relating to fiber supply agreements entered into at the time of the 2006 transformation plan forestland sales and in conjunction with the 2008 acquisition of weyerhaeuser company 2019s containerboard , packaging and recycling business .( c ) not included in the above table due to the uncertainty as to the amount and timing of the payment are unrecognized tax benefits of approximately $ 101 million .we consider the undistributed earnings of our foreign subsidiaries as of december 31 , 2015 , to be indefinitely reinvested and , accordingly , no u.s .income taxes have been provided thereon .as of december 31 , 2015 , the amount of cash associated with indefinitely reinvested foreign earnings was approximately $ 600 million .we do not anticipate the need to repatriate funds to the united states to satisfy domestic liquidity needs arising in the ordinary course of business , including liquidity needs associated with our domestic debt service requirements .pension obligations and funding at december 31 , 2015 , the projected benefit obligation for the company 2019s u.s .defined benefit plans determined under u.s .gaap was approximately $ 3.5 billion higher than the fair value of plan assets .approximately $ 3.2 billion of this amount relates to plans that are subject to minimum funding requirements .under current irs funding rules , the calculation of minimum funding requirements differs from the calculation of the present value of plan benefits ( the projected benefit obligation ) for accounting purposes .in december 2008 , the worker , retiree and employer recovery act of 2008 ( wera ) was passed by the u.s .congress which provided for pension funding relief and technical corrections .funding contributions depend on the funding method selected by the company , and the timing of its implementation , as well as on actual demographic data and the targeted funding level .the company continually reassesses the amount and timing of any discretionary contributions and elected to make contributions totaling $ 750 million and $ 353 million for the years ended december 31 , 2015 and 2014 , respectively .at this time , we do not expect to have any required contributions to our plans in 2016 , although the company may elect to make future voluntary contributions .the timing and amount of future contributions , which could be material , will depend on a number of factors , including the actual earnings and changes in values of plan assets and changes in interest rates .international paper has announced a voluntary , limited-time opportunity for former employees who are participants in the retirement plan of international paper company ( the pension plan ) to request early payment of their entire pension plan benefit in the form of a single lump sum payment .eligible participants who wish to receive the lump sum payment must make an election between february 29 and april 29 , 2016 , and payment is scheduled to be made on or before june 30 , 2016 .all payments will be made from the pension plan trust assets .the target population has a total liability of $ 3.0 billion .the amount of the total payments will depend on the participation rate of eligible participants , but is expected to be approximately $ 1.5 billion .based on the expected level of payments , settlement accounting rules will apply in the period in which the payments are made .this will result in a plan remeasurement and the recognition in earnings of a pro-rata portion of unamortized net actuarial loss .ilim holding s.a .shareholder 2019s agreement in october 2007 , in connection with the formation of the ilim holding s.a .joint venture , international paper entered into a shareholder 2019s agreement that includes provisions relating to the reconciliation of disputes among the partners .this agreement was amended on may 7 , 2014 .pursuant to the amended agreement , beginning on january 1 , 2017 , either the company or its partners may commence certain procedures specified under the deadlock provisions .if these or any other deadlock provisions are commenced , the company may in certain situations , choose to purchase its partners 2019 50% ( 50 % ) interest in ilim .any such transaction would be subject to review and approval by russian and other relevant antitrust authorities .any such purchase by international paper would result in the consolidation of ilim 2019s financial position and results of operations in all subsequent periods. .

Question: in 2018 what was the percent of the long-term debt maturities as part of the total contractual obligations for future payments
Answer: 50.1%