The International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced on Thursday, April 7, that it had reached an agreement in principle with the Lebanese authorities for an aid plan of three billion dollars over four years, while the country of Cedars is going through the worst crisis. economics of its history.

The program granted to Lebanon under the Extended Fund Facility is subject to the approval of IMF management and its board of directors, the institution said in a statement.

"And the Lebanese authorities have agreed to undertake several key reforms ahead of the IMF board meeting," the Fund added.

An IMF delegation began a new mission to Lebanon at the end of March in the hope of reaching a preliminary agreement on an aid program for the country hit by an unprecedented economic crisis.

The extended credit facility "aims to support the authorities' reform strategy to restore growth and financial sustainability, strengthen governance, transparency and increase social and reconstruction spending," the Fund said.

A dramatic economic contraction and a sharp increase in poverty

The IMF nevertheless points out that this program should be supplemented by the restructuring of Lebanon's external public debt with the aim of involving creditors sufficiently in order to restore the viability of the debt.

"Lebanon is facing an unprecedented crisis, which has led to a dramatic economic contraction and a sharp increase in poverty, unemployment and emigration," Ernesto Ramirez Rigo, the IMF's mission chief, told AFP. outcome of the visit which ended on Thursday.

About 80% of the Lebanese population are in fact plunged into poverty.

The IMF official stressed that this crisis is "a manifestation of deep and persistent vulnerabilities generated by many years of unsustainable macroeconomic policies that have fueled large deficits".

He also noted that the authorities had supported an overvalued exchange rate and that the financial sector was oversized.

Finally, he noted "serious problems of accountability and transparency".

So many issues to which the Lebanese authorities will have to respond.

In addition, the crisis has been aggravated by the Covid-19 pandemic and the explosion of the port of Beirut in August 2020, and more recently by the war in Ukraine, the main supplier of wheat to several countries in the Middle East.

With AFP

The summary of the

France 24 week invites you to come back to the news that marked the week

I subscribe

Take international news everywhere with you!

Download the France 24 app

google-play-badge_EN