The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has revealed that Lebanon's financial crisis has been exacerbated by special interests that resist implementing necessary reforms, warning that failure to act to resolve this will push the country to "an unknown fate."
According to the IMF, the economic collapse, which began about four years ago, cost the local currency about 98 percent of its value, led to a 40 percent contraction of gross domestic product, pushed inflation to unprecedented levels, and depleted two-thirds of the central bank's foreign currency reserves. These figures came as part of an IMF report at the conclusion of the Article IV consultations, a comprehensive assessment of Lebanon's financial situation. The IMF indicated that what exacerbated the crisis was the failure to take much-needed policy movements, and what hindered it was the current political crisis and the resistance to the implementation of reforms due to special interests.
Source (Alkhaleej Emirati Newspaper, Edited)
