Prime Minister Nawaf Salam with Jean-Christophe Carret, World Bank Division Director for the Middle East, and Resident Representative in Lebanon Enrique Blanco Armas at the Grand Serail on Feb. 2, 2026. (Photo posted on the X account of the Grand Serail)
Anna Bjerde, the World Bank’s managing director of operations and a key member of the group's leadership, is set to visit Lebanon soon, Jean-Christophe Carret, the World Bank’s regional director for the Middle East, told Prime Minister Nawaf Salam during a meeting at the Grand Serail attended by resident representative Enrique Blanco Armas.
According to a Cabinet statement, the purpose of the visit is to “deepen dialogue on economic recovery and strengthen the partnership with Lebanon,” notably through new loans aimed at “improving the energy, connectivity, and transportation sectors at both the regional and international levels, as well as supporting private sector involvement in future public investments.”
Contacted for comment, the World Bank’s press office has yet to announce the date of the visit. Anna Bjerde’s last trip to Lebanon was in May 2024.
A visit by the World Bank’s managing director of operations to a country is generally a sign of the importance the organization attaches to the country in question.
The reason: on Jan. 27, the World Bank’s board approved two new loans for Lebanon totaling $350 million, including $200 million as a fourth supplementary budget for the Emergency Social Safety Net Project (ESSN), through which the institution has been providing assistance to the most vulnerable since the start of the socio-economic crisis in 2019.
In December, the Lebanese Parliament also approved three pending loans totaling more than half a billion dollars already allocated by the World Bank, including $250 million to finance the reconstruction of infrastructure damaged during the 2024 war between Hezbollah and Israel.
Discussions between Salam, Carret and Blanco Armas covered all of these issues.
A delegation from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which Lebanon is seeking to secure a financial assistance program from — one that is contingent on reforms — is expected to arrive in Beirut on Feb. 9.
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