Lebanon: preliminary agreement with the donors of the International Monetary Fund
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, right, and Lebanese President Michel Aoun, center, meet the IMF delegation, left, at the presidential palace in Beirut, Thursday, April 7, 2022. AP - Dalati Nohra
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After months of arduous negotiations, the IMF and the Lebanese authorities have reached a preliminary agreement for a three billion dollar aid package for Lebanon.
Spread over four years, this plan aims to get the country out of the deep economic and financial crisis in which it has been plunged since 2019.
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With our correspondent in Beirut,
Paul Khalifeh
The aid of three billion dollars granted by the International Monetary Fund is far from the ten billion claimed by Lebanon to get out of the crisis.
But the announcement of this agreement in principle has nevertheless given rise to a glimmer of hope, after two and a half years marked by unprecedented collapses in all sectors, and an impoverishment which has affected 80% of the population.
IMF aid is conditional on a series of economic, financial and administrative reforms that require extensive legislative work.
These reforms range from the restructuring of the banking sector, to the redefinition of the role of the Central Bank, through a battery of laws to fight against corruption and bad governance.
►Also listen: In Lebanon, the specter of food insecurity
Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri hailed the agreement with the IMF, calling it "
an important achievement
".
He pledged to work “
very seriously to secure the necessary legislation and reforms
”.
For Prime Minister Najib Mikati, the planned reforms will put Lebanon back on the map of global finance.
The agreement with the IMF is certainly good news for Lebanon.
But the desired reforms must be prepared by the government and examined by Parliament before being voted on.
It is unlikely that this daunting task will be completed before the legislative elections scheduled for May 15.
►Read again: Nearly half of the Lebanese population requests emergency social assistance
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Lebanon
IMF
Michael Aoun
Najib Mikati
Economic crisis
finance