Wassim Al-Zuhairi - Beirut
Difficult and complex entitlements The new Lebanese government headed by Hassan Diab faces after receiving the confidence of Parliament, after which she begins a journey to search for remedies for the crises the country is going through.
The challenges facing the government are almost no longer, and they are distributed between financial and economic problems and ways to find exits that protect the country from collapse in light of the decline in the purchasing power of citizens with the devaluation of the national currency and the scarcity of the US dollar, and between the political tensions based on the background of many internal and regional issues.
In its ministerial statement, the government confirmed its intention to start a workshop of reforms at various levels.
Perhaps the government's first test lies in the way it deals with the maturity of repayment of foreign debt bonds in the next month, amounting to about $ 1.2 billion, to be read by additional payments in the following months, in light of the current financial crisis and some experts warn of the negative repercussions on Lebanon's currency reserves The difficult and the Lebanese deposits in banks in case of debt repayment.
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In this context, the economist and financial expert Rabie Karbaj believes that the Lebanese government has a basic and decisive entitlement, stressing the necessity of negotiating with creditors from Lebanese banks and foreign investors to replace short-term outstanding bonds with long-term bonds, considering that it is necessary to restructure the public debt as a whole.
He believed that paying debt bonds in foreign currency would lead to the government losing its ability to pay for the needs of the Lebanese people in terms of fuel, food, medicine, and others.
In his speech to Al Jazeera Net, Karbaj stressed the need for fundamental reforms by reducing the public budget deficit, stressing the importance of transforming the Lebanese economy from rentier to productive by supporting agriculture and industry.
He pointed out the importance of resolving the electricity problem, in addition to restructuring the Lebanese public sector, and combating corruption and tax evasion, calling for measures to be restored to the Lebanese banking sector.
Karbaj said that the failure to start reforms quickly means Lebanon's move towards a financial and economic meltdown, and thus requested the intervention of the International Monetary Fund.
On the other hand, the Association of Banks in Lebanon called for the necessity of paying the public debt due on time in March, in order to protect the interests of depositors and to preserve Lebanon's survival in the global financial markets.
The International Support Group for Lebanon also called on the Lebanese government to take concrete and credible measures and reforms quickly and resolutely to stop the worsening crises and meet the needs and demands of the Lebanese people.
| Hassan Diab vowed a set of reforms (Reuters) |
Arrange relationships
In turn, Lebanese President Michel Aoun considered that a new stage had begun after the government gained confidence, and he saw that the financial and economic crises could no longer be solved easily, and now required relatively harsh measures for the Lebanese.
In addition to financial and economic concerns, the government must arrange its relations with the home and abroad. Political analyst Ali Shukr says that it is necessary to open the government to the popular movement, given that the formation of the government itself came as a result of this movement.
He thanked the government for adopting the protesters' demands through practical implementation programs, stressing direct contact with the components of the movement so that the government could create popular immunity around them.
On the way the government deals with internal political forces, especially those that refused to give it confidence, Shukr told Al Jazeera Net that it is not in the government's interest to publicize the rivalry of any of the political components, considering that the stage needs everyone's efforts for the higher interest of the country.
The Diab government faced accusations of being close to Hezbollah and its allies, while affirming in its ministerial statement a commitment to distance itself from policies that violate Lebanon's Arab relations.
Shukr saw that the position of the international community is waiting for the steps that the government will take, considering that the direction of the international community is to extend the hand to the government, provided that measures are taken that give confidence to the outside in various fields.