Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab and Minister of Finance Ghazi Wazni signed a request for assistance from the International Monetary Fund for Lebanon, after the government approved a financial and economic program that it considered as reform.
In this context, Diab pointed out, "this moment is crucial in the history of Lebanon, as we started the first step towards a real workshop to save Lebanon from the deep financial gap that is difficult to get out without an effective assistance."
He continued: "the Lebanese Cabinet approved the reform program, and today I signed a letter to the International Monetary Fund to request its assistance. God willing, this will be the turning point in the downward path of the financial and economic reality of Lebanon."
He pointed out that the plan is based on the need to start immediately implementing the long-awaited reforms, which are at the level of state administration, financial policy, the financial sector, the central bank, the current account, and the balance of payments, and have set goals over five years, namely: Reducing the deficit of current account to 5.6%, obtaining external financial support in excess of $10 billion in addition to the Cedar Conference funds, returning to positive growth as of the year 2022, adopting direct and indirect support for unaffordable groups and implementing social programs in this field.
Meanwhile, France announced that it is necessary for Lebanon to implement necessary reforms in order to recover the country, after the government adopted an economic plan and decided to seek assistance from the International Monetary Fund.
"Based on that, France is ready to support Lebanon's efforts," said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Anies von der Mole.
Source (New Arab newspaper, Edited)
