Lebanon, where the economic crisis is worsening day by day, is going through “a very dangerous moment”, a government official warned on Thursday. International Monetary Fund, deploring the slow implementation of reforms by politicians. “We believe that Lebanon is at a very dangerous moment, at a crossroads,” said Ernesto Ramirez Rigo at a press conference after a mission to Beirut.
“The process of implementing” the necessary reforms “has been very slow”, added the official, warning that “the policy of inaction will leave Lebanon plunged into an endless crisis”. The IMF announced in April 2022 an agreement in principle with Beirut for aid of three billion dollars, spread over four years but conditional on the implementation of reforms, including a change in the law on banking secrecy or a restructuring of the banking sector as well as a capital control law.
Progress deemed “too slow”
This is not the first time that the Fund has denounced the slowness of the Lebanese authorities in implementing these reforms. “Time flies, it’s been almost a year since we reached an agreement,” the IMF official lamented. “The Lebanese have made progress, but unfortunately this progress is very slow. »
Since 2019, Lebanon has been plunged into a deep economic crisis blamed by a large part of the population on the mismanagement, corruption, negligence and inertia of a ruling class in place for decades. The local currency has lost more than 98% of its value against the dollar in the parallel market, while draconian banking restrictions prevent savers from having free access to their money.
On Wednesday, hundreds of Lebanese, including a large number of retired soldiers, demonstrated in Beirut against the deterioration of living conditions and the vertiginous collapse of the national currency, before being dispersed with tear gas by the law enforcement.
