The IMF & France Support Lebanon to Stop the Economic Collapse

  • Beirut, Lebanon
  • 7 August 2020
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The Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, indicated that "the IMF is exploring all possible means to support the Lebanese people following the terrible explosion in the Beirut port," and urged the international community and Lebanon's friends to "lend a hand."

Georgieva stressed that "it is necessary to break the deadlock in discussions related to the necessary reforms, and to set up a serious program to pull the economy out of its stumbling block and lay the foundations for accountability and confidence in the country's future," to revive the economy."

For his part, French President Emmanuel Macron, who urgently visited Lebanon, revealed the organization of an international conference to support Lebanon after the huge explosion that destroyed the port of Beirut and its vicinity, in the midst of the worst economic crisis in the country.

He explained in a press conference held at the headquarters of the French embassy in Beirut, known as "Pine Palace", after the conclusion of his visit to Lebanon. It is that "in the coming days, we will organize an international conference to support Beirut and the Lebanese people, with the aim of obtaining international funding from Europeans, Americans, and all countries in the region and beyond, in order to provide medicines, care, food, and building supplies."

For his part, the head of the Economic and Social Council in Lebanon, Charles Arbid, indicated that "there is a divorce between the state and the citizens, and it became clear to us that the administration in Lebanon is a paper issue."

Arbid revealed that the cost of rebuilding Beirut’s port ranges between 600 and 750 million dollars, and the cost of building homes reaches nearly 1.5 billion dollars, in addition to shops and cars, while there are things that cannot be compensated, such as ancient buildings.

Source (Economic Bulletin website, Edited)

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