Lebanon appoints new IMF team

Lebanon said Thursday it has formed a new government delegation to resume talks with the International Monetary Fund aimed at rescuing the country from an economic meltdown.

The government of Prime Minister Najib Mikati said in a statement that a four-member committee had been appointed to resume talks with the IMF.

The team — Deputy Prime Minister Saade Chami, Finance Minister Youssef Khalil, Economy Minister Amin Salam and central bank governor Riad Salameh — would be backed by experts.

The eastern Mediterranean country is facing what the World Bank has described as one of the world’s worst economic crises since the 1850s.

Its currency, the pound, has lost almost 90 percent of its value against the dollar on the black market since 2019, and people’s savings are trapped in banks.

Inflation has soared, and 78 percent of all Lebanese now live under the threshold of poverty, according to the UN.

Power cuts are common in the country and basic goods including petrol and medicine have become scarce.

After defaulting on its debt in March 2020 for the first time in history, Lebanon started talks with the IMF but they hit a brick wall amid bickering over who should bear the brunt of the losses.

Lebanon hopes the talks with the IMF will help unlock billions of dollars in financial aid.
But the international community has demanded sweeping reforms and a forensic audit of the country’s central bank before any financial assistance is disbursed.

Finance expert Mike Azar recently told AFP that reforming the commercial banking sector and central bank, as well as restructuring the public sector, would be key for any deal with the IMF.

Source: Arab News

 

The Liberum

Vox Populi, Vox Dei
See full bio >
The Liberum runs on your donation. Fight with us for a free society.
Donation Form (#6)

More articles you might like

- by Roula Kmeid on 31/03/2025

Your NET WORK is your NET WORTH

What if I told you that while education, experience, and skills are crucial, the hidden […]

The regional implications of the ethnic cleansing against the Alawites in Syria

Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham and its allies shocked the world by overthrowing the Syrian regime in […]

Work-out is not working out for me: A tragicomedy in three acts   

I have always hated the gym. Not in a casual, “Oh, I don’t feel like […]

Rushdie attacker Hadi Matar found guilty of attempted murder

In a knife attack in the French city of Mulhouse in late February, one person […]

The enigmatic demise of Iran’s proxy empire

When a progressively secular nation that once bore the seeds of Persian history and culture […]

Tens of thousands join mass funeral in Beirut for slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah

Tens of thousands of people gathered in Beirut Sunday morning to attend the funeral of […]