Beirut (AFP)

The Lebanese government is meeting on Thursday to approve a plan to revive the economy on the brink of the sinking of this indebted country, where the demonstrators took to the streets to shout their anger.

The containment measures taken to combat the new coronavirus have amplified an already acute economic crisis, the worst since the civil war (1975-1990): inflation continues to rise, a shortage of liquidity and a sharp depreciation of the currency against the dollar, used in the same way as the Lebanese pound on a daily basis.

The cabinet meeting takes place at the presidential palace in Baabda, near Beirut, after three consecutive nights of violence in the city of Tripoli, the capital of the north of the country.

On Wednesday, limited clashes erupted in Tripoli between protesters and security forces, the former launching Molotov cocktails and stones and the latter responding with tear gas. At least 23 people and 19 soldiers were injured, according to the official ANI agency. Monday and Tuesday, similar clashes left one dead and fifty wounded among the demonstrators and 40 wounded among the soldiers according to the army.

Information on the long-awaited recovery plan has leaked in the local media and indicates a need for 80 billion dollars (around 73 billion euros) to exit the crisis, including between 10 and 15 billion dollars of external funding over the next five years.

The planned reforms, it said, include cuts in public spending and a restructuring of government debt, which stands at around 170% of GDP, one of the highest rates in the world.

In March, the country announced that it was in default for the first time in its history.

In recent years, political crises have followed one another, plunging the country into instability.

In October 2019, economic difficulties were one of the triggers of an unprecedented protest movement, with some days hundreds of thousands of Lebanese mobilized to shout their rage against the entire political class, judged incompetent and corrupt. The government resigned under pressure from the street.

The protests had lost momentum after the formation of a new cabinet led by Hassan Diab, responsible in early 2020 for carrying out reforms, in the hope of unlocking billions of euros in international aid.

But in recent days, rallies have resumed despite containment measures against the coronavirus. Over 700 cases of contamination have been officially recorded, including 24 deaths.

According to official estimates, 45% of the population now lives below the poverty line.

© 2020 AFP