Lebanon Gets IMF Mission To Analyse Slow Progress On Borrowing Agreement
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Roshan Amiri
- . September 16, 2022
- . Update: September 17, 2022 12:11 pm
Lebanon had agreed on reform when borrowing from IMF. But that doesn’t seem to have happened. Next week, a special mission from the IMF would be visiting them to figure out how they can actually speed up the process of implementing the agreed reforms.
The IMF and Lebanon in April reached a staff-level agreement on a $3 billion loan program. The conditions of the loan programme have to be met for the IMF to disburse the loan amount.
Of the many clauses in the loan programe was to address unrealistic losses in the Lebanese banking system.
The slow progress, including what the IMF views as “key deficiencies” in a proposed bank secrecy law, has raised questions about whether Lebanon has the political will to meet key conditions for a program. IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said the meetings in Beirut starting on Sept. 19 will “prepare the ground for a full mission” after a new Lebanese government is formed.
Read more : No Dollars Available For Fuel Imports In Lebanon Anymore
Lebanese government has been in a soup for the longest time. There has been minimal progress and huge bottlenecks in providing adequate currency, employment or trade opportunities apart from slow economic growth.
Rice has further said that the Fund was “fully committed” to working closely with authorities in Egypt to help stabilize its economy amid shocks from the war in Ukraine, but declined to say whether a deal for an IMF loan program was close at hand.
“We’re now working closely with Egyptian authorities with a view to you know, how we can do more to support our shared goals of economic stability and sustainable, job rich, medium-term growth for Egypt,” Rice said. “I don’t have the details on that, the discussions are ongoing with Egypt, but we’re fully committed.”
