Emergency aid to Lebanon with $ 246 million
The World Bank has agreed to provide emergency aid to Lebanon amounting to $ 246 million in the form of financial transfers and social services for 786,000 Lebanese living in poverty and suffering under the weight of two severe economic and health crises in the country.
In addition to direct financial transfers to poor families, the aid aims to support the development of a national system of social safety nets to allow a better response to the "unprecedented and exacerbating" crises in the country, according to the International Financial Corporation.
Lebanon has been witnessing the worst economic and financial crisis in decades since 2019, and its GDP declined by 19.2% in 2020, while inflation exceeded 100% and poverty prevailed on a large scale.
According to the World Bank, 45% of the population lives below the poverty line, and 22% below the extreme poverty line.
The political instability in the country since October 2019 and the global pandemic has exacerbated the economic crisis, and the outbreak of the Corona virus has pushed the country to impose several closures since March 2020.
The Lebanese authorities decided to impose a tight lockdown, starting from Thursday, with a complete curfew for 11 days to contain the accelerating spread of "
Covid-19".
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