Skeptical press after Lebanese Prime Minister's announcements

Text by: RFI Follow

Prime Minister Hassan Diab painted a very grim picture of the economic and financial situation, however, undertaking to launch a vast reform plan to redress the country. But the press is divided as well on the relevance of the announcement of the default of the debt as on the measures which must follow.

Publicity

With our correspondent in Beirut, Paul Khalifeh

The daily Al-Akhbar , close to Hezbollah, stresses that Hassan Diab is the first Lebanese official to dare to describe the catastrophic economic and financial situation without improving it. After this unadorned inventory, the time is now for solutions, but these cannot succeed without support from those who appointed the Prime Minister, namely Hezbollah, the Shiite Amal movement and the Free Patriotic Current Christian, close to the President of the Republic. But the newspaper reveals that these three political forces remain very cautious towards Hassan Diab and his team.

The newspaper notes that the government appears to have ruled out the option of using International Monetary Fund (IMF) revenues to try to resolve the crisis. A decision that could have “ negative repercussions ,” according to Al-Liwaa , close to Saudi Arabia.

► Read also: Lebanon: banks at the heart of the financial crisis hitting the country

The French - language daily L'Orient-Le Jour believes that Hassan Diab's speech, which he describes as " vaguely technical and selectively political ", left many Lebanese hungry and fueled their fear of an uncertain future.

The centrist daily Al Joumhouria understands that Hassan Diab canceled all his meetings on Monday to devote himself to refining the long-term rescue plan for Lebanon, which he promised to launch in parallel with the suspension of reimbursement of the public debt.

According to Georges Corm, former finance minister of Lebanon, a financial rescue plan from the International Monetary Fund seems inevitable. For this professor at the Saint Joseph University of Beirut, in order to obtain such aid, Lebanon will have to fight against the economic slump which hampers its stability and growth.

The Prime Minister has already planned a public sector restructuring plan, which is far too large for the economy, and where many administrations will be closed. I can give an example which is not only anecdotal: we still have a Railway Office in Lebanon, whereas for forty years we have no longer had railways.

Georges Corm, former Minister of Finance of Lebanon

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• Hassan Diab

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