Lebanon: the Mikati government faced with the immense challenge of the economic crisis

2021-09-11T22:13:00.323Z

In Lebanon, the first Council of Ministers of the government appointed Friday is to be held on Monday, September 13, 2021. Responsible for straightening a country on its knees, the new team had been expected for more than…

Lebanon: the Mikati government faced with the immense challenge of the economic crisis

Najib Mikati leaving the al-Omari mosque in Beirut, September 10, 2021. AFP - -

Text by: RFI Follow

3 min

In Lebanon, the first Council of Ministers of the government appointed Friday is to be held Monday, September 13, 2021. Responsible for straightening a country on its knees, the new team was expected for more than a year, to succeed the one who resigned the day after the terrible explosion in the port of Beirut, in August 2020.

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Faced with an unprecedented economic and social crisis, the new Lebanese government, awaited for thirteen months, must take up several challenges to recover the slope and initially restore economic balances.

Led by Najib Mikati

, it is made up of 24 ministers, who now have a heavy task: to redress the country.

The daily life of the Lebanese is today marked by various shortages, starting with

power cuts

But for part of the population, the new government does not embody the hope of transparent management and an uncompromising fight against corruption.

This is the opinion of Josiane, a beautician from Beirut, mother of three children, interviewed by our correspondent

Paul Khalifeh

No, I don't think anything will change. They are still the same people in power, the corruption is still there. So I really don't see how they could change things. Electricity is not there, everything is expensive,

we can no longer find anything

in the supermarkets ... I don't think this team is going to do anything, it's impossible. It's too much, and too deep.

For example, the new Minister of Finance, Youssef Khalil, who was until now a senior executive at the Central Bank of Lebanon, is accused of being among those who have covered decades of public deficits.

But other voices clear it and question the central council of the Bank, made up of the governor, four vice-governors and the directors general of three ministries: Finance, Economy and Trade.

Youcef Khalil has his work cut out for him and his action is eagerly awaited: the country is in economic depression and the amount of its debt is close to 100 billion dollars.

The Lebanese pound has lost over 90% of its value.

Walid, 46, works in Beirut in the medical services sector;

he does not believe much either, and is even preparing to leave the country to settle in France.

These are the same people who came back: the same faces, the same names ... We hope that will change, but we do not have too much hope. We haven't changed our minds, we're leaving the country in 48 hours, I enrolled my children in school in France. There is no school transport this year. There is no electricity. There is hardly any more Internet. The announcement of the formation of the government is good news, but it is not enough to change my mind as schools start next week and I do not see a solution in the days to come.

Barely appointed, the new Lebanese government must therefore already face, in addition to a catastrophic situation, a heavy skepticism among the population,

which is also expressed in the country's press

Above all else, he will have to reassure him about his ability to deal with the immense issues that arise before him.

Lebanon: the Mikati government faced with the immense challenge of the economic crisis

Lebanon: the Mikati government faced with the immense challenge of the economic crisis

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