IMF says it only support 'comprehensive program' for Lebanon
February 4, 2022, 9:01 am

IMF says it only support 'comprehensive program' for Lebanon

Lebanon-Sign of Lebanese politician, Bachir Gemayel, in Beirut/Pixabay

The Asharq Al-Awsat reported, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Thursday the fund would only support a "comprehensive program" for Lebanon that would tackle all the country's ills, including corruption.

Georgieva told reporters: "Our team is working very closely with their Lebanese counterparts." She added: "We are stressing that it has to be a comprehensive program."

AFP reported, Lebanese officials began talks with the IMF last month to pull the Middle Eastern country out of the worst economic crisis in its history.

Georgieva called Lebanon's circumstances "very, very dire," and said "it has been so for a long time, and short of a strong government commitment to change the course of the country, the suffering of the Lebanese people would continue."

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She said the Washington-based crisis lender was negotiating over a budget proposal that would address Lebanon's banking sector and "reforms that the country needs including more transparency for what the government does."

Lebanon defaulted on its sovereign debt in 2020, a first in its history.

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Its currency has lost about 90 percent of its value on the black market and four out of five Lebanese now live below the poverty line, according to the United Nations, a situation made worse by triple-digit inflation.

Despite the economic collapse, the country's ruling class has blocked reforms that foreign donors say must happen before aid is dispensed.

Source: aawsat

Russia confirms 12-year prison sentence for alleged Ukrainian spy Emmanuel Macron to meet Russia's Putin and Ukraine's Zelensky next week

Upon arriving to participate in the summit of the European Political Community, which includes around forty heads of state in Budapest, he said, "I look forward to sitting with the elected U.S. president and seeing how we will collectively ensure we meet challenges, including the threats from Russia and North Korea." He also noted that the strengthening of ties between Russia and North Korea poses a threat to the United States as well, according to reports from Agence France-Presse.

Before Trump's victory, Rutte expressed confidence that a united Washington would remain part of the defensive alliance, even if Trump became the 47th president of the United States. In an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF last Monday night, he stated that both Republicans and Democrats understand that NATO serves not only the security of Europe but also that of America. He added that both candidates are aware that the security of the United States is closely tied to NATO.

On Wednesday, NATO congratulated Trump on his victory but did not address the Ukrainian issue.

It is noteworthy that the relationship between the elected U.S. president and the defense alliance was not the best during his first term in the White House. Trump criticized NATO member states multiple times and even hinted at withdrawing from the alliance unless they increased their financial contributions.

Additionally, the issue of the Russian-Ukrainian war is one of the matters that complicate relations between the two sides, especially since Trump has repeatedly stated that he can end this ongoing conflict, which began in 2022, quickly. He implied that he had a peace plan between Kyiv and Moscow, while his vice president, JD Vance, revealed aspects of that plan, which stipulated Ukraine's commitment not to join NATO, thereby sending reassuring signals to the Russians.

Furthermore, many NATO member states in Europe fear that Trump might halt military aid to Ukraine after he previously criticized the U.S. for pouring funds into supporting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.