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Ambassadors again call on Lebanon to implement IMF-required reforms

Ambassadors again call on Lebanon to implement IMF-required reforms

French Ambassador to Lebanon Anne Grillo in a meeting with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati at the Grand Serail, March, 27, 2023. (Credit: the Prime Ministry via Twitter)

BEIRUT — The ambassadors of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union in Beirut called on Lebanese leaders Wednesday to "rediscover the sense of responsibility and urgency" to implement reforms requested by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

In April 2022, Lebanon signed a Staff Level Agreement (SLA) with the IMF agreeing to implement structural reforms in return for a $3 billion aid package.

"When the SLA was finalized... Lebanese authorities recognized the urgent need to initiate a multi-pronged reform program. But an absence of political will has hindered progress," the ambassadors said in a joint statement. "While some conditions have been met, the bank secrecy law proved insufficient, no progress has been made with respect to allocating financial sector losses, and authorities must work to audit Lebanon’s major banks and unify Lebanon’s exchange rates." 

For the first time in its history, Lebanon is suffering from a double executive power vacuum. The country has been without a president since Michel Aoun left office on October 31, 2022, and the government has been in caretaker status since May 2022. 

"The urgency could not be more obvious. The country faces one of the worst economic crises in modern history. People in Lebanon are suffering," the statement added.

"We also call for a renewed and unified sense of urgency to secure the election of a president who can unite the Lebanese people and will work with the international community in the national interest."

In their joint statement, the ambassadors called the presidential vacuum "one of the great obstacles to complete and effective reform." 

They went on to state that the answer to Lebanon’s economic crisis can only come from within.

"Now is the time for the Lebanese authorities to seize the opportunity presented by an agreement with the IMF," the statement concluded. "Otherwise, the economy will deteriorate further, with ever more severe consequences for the Lebanese people." 




BEIRUT — The ambassadors of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union in Beirut called on Lebanese leaders Wednesday to "rediscover the sense of responsibility and urgency" to implement reforms requested by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).In April 2022, Lebanon signed a Staff Level Agreement (SLA) with the IMF agreeing to...