Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund Kristalina Georgieva sits with Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati in the residence of Lebanon's UN delegation, Sept. 20, 2022. (Credit: Prime Ministry's Twitter account)
BEIRUT — The Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund Kristalina Georgieva on Tuesday said after meeting with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati that the IMF is "eager" to achieve a deal with Lebanon "as fast as possible and proceeding with the steps needed on the Lebanese side to approve reform programs in Parliament and fixing the situation of the exchange rate," the Prime Ministry's Twitter account reported.
Here's what we know:
• After being received by Mikati in the residence of the Lebanese delegation attending the UN convention on Tuesday, Georgieva also said that the "International interest in Lebanon still exists, however, the process of implementing the necessary steps should be sped up on the Lebanese side because time is imminent amid the international economic recession and fears of international difficulties in the sectors of food supply and energy."
• Last week, Lebanon's Parliament postponed a session that discussed the 2022 budget, an IMF demand, until Sept. 26, after some MPs withdrew from the session which resulted in not reaching quorum. The most important subject still in disagreement by MPs is the matter of exchange rates. Approving the state budget is one of the key reforms demanded by the IMF to unlock a $3 billion assistance for Lebanon as it suffers from an unprecedented economic crisis.
Mikati also met with the US meditator in the Lebanese-Israeli maritime border negotiations Amos Hochstein, the prime minister's media office reported without revealing the outcome of the meeting. On Monday evening, Lebanese President Michel Aoun said that negotiations for an agreement between the two states entered their "final phase."