Six years after the crisis, the IMF still faces the opacity of Lebanon’s public accounts

Six years after the onset of the financial and banking crisis, Lebanon's partners, with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) at the forefront, are still waiting for the promised reforms to be implemented, with a patience that seems increasingly limited.While the law on banking secrecy has undergone a new revision, and the issue of banking resolution and the allocation of losses continues to face delays, the restructuring of public finances remains one of the constantly postponed challenges. Burdened by deficits accumulated over three decades and financed by debt, they reached a point of no return in March 2020, when the country announced its default on eurobond payment. Since then, successive governments have failed to include these expenses in the budget laws, up until the 2026 budget draft, which has been approved by the cabinet...