Salam to the IMF: Our commitment to reforms is a 'national duty'

BEIRUT — Caretaker Economy and Trade Minister Amin Salam assured Friday Lebanon’s commitment to the mandatory economic and financial reforms needed to secure a deal with the International Monetary Fund, stating that it is “a national duty to save the country” which has been battling a grave economic crisis since 2019. Salam's assurances came during a meeting with the fund. 

According to a statement issued by the the Economy and Trade Ministry, Salam affirmed "Lebanon's commitment to economic and financial reforms as a national duty to save the country," and stressed that "the expected joining of Lebanon to the oil-producing countries requires us to speed up the implementation of reform, and not to neglect or condemn them.”

The meeting was held in Washington by the Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund and its management team, with the ministers of finance, ministers of economy, central bank governors and heads of regional financial institutions in the Middle East and North Africa in attendance. The IMF's managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, also attended the meeting.

Georgieva on Thursday called on the Lebanese political class to "work for the stability of the country" and "put their country and people first."

This is not the first time the IMF has appeared to highlight the reluctance of Lebanese authorities to implement the reforms needed to release international aid, even saying the "delay could prove costly for the country."

In April, the institution announced a staff-level agreement with Beirut to offer $3 billion in aid, spread over four years, but the aid is conditional on the implementation of crucial reforms. Lebanon's Parliament adopted a 2022 budget, one of the IMF's main preconditions, at the end of September. But several major reforms remain to be carried out, including changes to the banking secrecy law, a restructuring of the banking sector and a new law on capital controls. 

An IMF delegation visited Lebanon in September and stated its “regret” that the Lebanese economy is suffering a "severe depression" and that, "despite the urgency," little progress has been made to implement the necessary reforms, some of which were listed in the April 7 preliminary agreement between Lebanon and the fund.

The IMF reiterated that Lebanon must pass a law establishing formal capital controls to reduce the pressure on foreign exchange reserves. It also commented on the banking secrecy law that was adopted by Parliament at the end of July but was sent back by Lebanese President Michel Aoun— an initiative welcomed by the IMF.