BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanese President Michel Aoun said on Friday that investigations into current and former officials on suspicion would not exclude anyone involved, while the World Bank confirmed its readiness to lend all support to a new Lebanese government.
Aoun said in a meeting with World Bank Group Regional Director Saroj Kumarajah that 17 files related to corruption were referred to the investigation, noting that the government will include ministers who are competent and free from suspicions of corruption.
Aoun pointed out that his country is "at a delicate crossroads, especially in economic terms," adding that Lebanon needs a harmonious government capable of production that is not hampered by political conflicts.
He pointed out that the reform projects he proposed to complete the anti-corruption system "are in the custody of the House of Representatives (parliament), the most important of which is to lift bank secrecy, lift immunity from perpetrators (for corruption crimes), recover looted funds, and the establishment of the Special Court for financial crimes."
Aoun stressed that he "is working to address the legacy of decades of corruption," stressing that he will continue to work until "uproot" corruption, and put an end to "waste and chaos in the state administrations and institutions."
In a statement after a meeting with President Aoun on Wednesday, Saroj Kumar said: "As each day passes, the situation becomes more severe, and this will make recovery very difficult."
Today, the World Bank has said it is ready to give all possible support to a new Lebanese government, warning that the country now has no time to waste to fix its worsening economic problems.
The bank called for a quick government and said it expected the recession in 2019 to be much larger than the bank's previous estimate of a 0.2 percent contraction in the economy.
The World Bank is an international donor, who last year pledged billions of dollars in aid, which is very much conditional on the government of Lebanon implementing reforms that have long been ignored.
But with international allies not fully convinced, money has not yet been injected into the Lebanese economy.