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IMF NEGOTIATIONS

Who wants to scrap Saade Chami's plan?

The staff-level agreement signed with the International Monetary Fund in May continues to hinge on a government plan and several reforms which, more than three years after the crisis broke out, are once again facing much opposition, whether publicly or behind closed doors, threatening to derail the negotiations once again.

This is a deep dive into how scores are being settled.

Who wants to scrap Saade Chami's plan?

Deputy Prime Minister Saade Chami during an exchange with President Michel Aoun, in March 2022. (Credit: Dalati and Nohra)

After having kept a low profile for a few weeks during the election period, Deputy Prime Minister Saade Chami seems to be everywhere now, giving interviews to national and foreign press, appearing on television shows, conferences, and webinars, in a bid to defend his economic recovery plan, adopted by the government on May 20.The stakes for his plan are high: obtaining an aid package of $3 billion paid over four years by the IMF, a prerequisite for the eventual release of other foreign funding.But as soon as it was adopted, the draft plan came under fire, raising fears of the same scenario as in 2020, when the plan of former Prime Minister Hassan Diab — and the first attempt at negotiations with the fund — was squarely rejected by the “Bank Party,” a term that was coined and popularized during the Oct. 17 uprising to illustrate the...
After having kept a low profile for a few weeks during the election period, Deputy Prime Minister Saade Chami seems to be everywhere now, giving interviews to national and foreign press, appearing on television shows, conferences, and webinars, in a bid to defend his economic recovery plan, adopted by the government on May 20.The stakes for his plan are high: obtaining an aid package of $3 billion paid over four years by the IMF, a prerequisite for the eventual release of other foreign funding.But as soon as it was adopted, the draft plan came under fire, raising fears of the same scenario as in 2020, when the plan of former Prime Minister Hassan Diab — and the first attempt at negotiations with the fund — was squarely rejected by the “Bank Party,” a term that was coined and popularized during the Oct. 17 uprising to illustrate...