The IMF logo at the entrance of the Fund headquarters in Washington. (AFP/File)
BEIRUT — An International Monetary Fund delegation plans to visit Beirut on Monday, to "accelerate" the Lebanese government's implementation of reforms needed to unlock a multi-billion-dollar financial assistance loan amid little progress since a preliminary agreement to the loan last April, a spokesperson from the institution said during a Thursday press briefing in Washington.
An IMF memo stated the delegation would be in Lebanon from Sept. 19 to 21, but did not mention whether it would be headed by the IMF's mission chief for Lebanon Ernesto Ramirez Rigo.
The situation in Lebanon is "difficult," Rice said, meaning that "implementation of measures is progressing slowly." He added that any further delay "increases the cost" of the crisis for both Lebanon and the Lebanese people.
Earlier this summer, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said that each day of delay in implementing the IMF-requested reforms was costing the country $25 million, presumably referring to the amount of foreign exchange reserves held by the Banque du Liban and injected by the latter into a battered economy.
"The priority actions provided for in the preliminary agreement," which include passage of a 2022 budget, capital controls, a banking secrecy law and others, "are essential to ending the crisis," insisted Gerry Rice at Thursday's press conference. He said the IMF delegation would also "prepare the ground for a new mission" that will take place when the new government is appointed.
In the five months since the preliminary agreement with the IMF, the Lebanese ruling class has not fully implemented any of the measures dictated by the preliminary document. Although members of Parliament adopted a law at the end of July to amend banking secrecy, the final version of this text was deemed incomplete by the IMF, which was nevertheless "pleased" that the text was sent back to the legislature for a second reading.