WASHINGTON: The International Monetary Fund said on Thursday that a staff mission will visit Lebanon next week to discuss ways to “speed up” implementation of agreed reforms required for an IMF loan program amid deteriorating living conditions in the country.
“We are looking to support Lebanon as strongly as we can. It’s a difficult situation,” IMF spokesman Gerry Rice told a regular news briefing. “There’s been slow progress in implementing some of the critical actions that we think are required to move forward with a program.”
The IMF and Lebanon in April reached a staff-level agreement on a $3 billion loan program, but this was contingent on enactment of a range of economic reforms, including addressing unrealized losses in Lebanon’s banking system.
The slow progress, including what the IMF views as “key deficiencies” in a proposed bank secrecy law, has raised questions about whether Lebanon has the political will to meet key conditions for a program.
Rice said the meetings in Beirut starting on Sept. 19 will “prepare the ground for a full mission” after a new Lebanese government is formed.
“Delaying the implementation of these reforms only increases the costs to Lebanon and Lebanese people,” Rice added.
Rice also said the Fund was “fully committed” to working closely with authorities in Egypt to help stabilize its economy amid shocks from the war in Ukraine, but declined to say whether a deal for an IMF loan program was close at hand.
“We’re now working closely with Egyptian authorities with a view to you know, how we can do more to support our shared goals of economic stability and sustainable, job rich, medium-term growth for Egypt,” Rice said. “I don’t have the details on that, the discussions are ongoing with Egypt, but we’re fully committed.”
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IMF to send mission to Lebanon next week to discuss slow reform progress
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IMF to send mission to Lebanon next week to discuss slow reform progress
- "We are looking to support Lebanon as strongly as we can. It's a difficult situation," said IMF spokesman Gerry Rice
- The IMF and Lebanon in April reached a staff-level agreement on a $3 billion loan program
Israeli strikes kill five in Gaza, health officials say
CAIRO: Israeli airstrikes and gunfire killed five Palestinians in Gaza on Tuesday, health officials said, the latest violence to undermine a four-month-old, US-brokered truce in the enclave.
In Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza, an airstrike killed two people who were riding an electric bike, medics said. Later, Israeli drone fire killed a woman in Deir Al-Balah and troops shot dead a man in Khan Younis in the south, they said.
Another man was killed by Israeli gunfire in Jabalia in north Gaza, Palestinian medics said.
The violence came a day after Israeli forces killed four militants in the southern city of Rafah after they emerged from an underground tunnel and opened fire on troops.
Without commenting directly on the four people killed on Tuesday, the Israeli military said it had carried out attacks targeting what it described as Hamas militants in response to Monday’s incident in Rafah.
In Gaza City, dozens of Palestinians rallied at the funerals of three people who were killed by an Israeli airstrike on an apartment building in the area on Monday night.
One body was wrapped in a Hamas green flag, while another had a green Hamas ribbon on his forehead, signaling that the two were members of the militant group.
Reuters was not able to ascertain the identities of those killed.
Trading blame
Israel and Hamas have repeatedly traded blame for violations of the ceasefire deal, a key element of US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the Gaza war, the deadliest and most destructive in the generations-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The next phase of Trump’s plan involves Hamas disarming, Israel withdrawing its troops from Gaza, and the deployment of an international peacekeeping force. Hamas has long rejected calls to lay down its arms and Israeli officials say they are preparing for a return to full-scale war.
At least 580 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the October ceasefire deal was struck, Gaza’s health ministry says. Israel says four soldiers have been killed by militants in Gaza over the same period.
The Gaza war started with the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on southern Israel that killed more than 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies. Israel’s air and ground war in Gaza has killed more than 72,000 people since then, according to Palestinian health ministry data.
In Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza, an airstrike killed two people who were riding an electric bike, medics said. Later, Israeli drone fire killed a woman in Deir Al-Balah and troops shot dead a man in Khan Younis in the south, they said.
Another man was killed by Israeli gunfire in Jabalia in north Gaza, Palestinian medics said.
The violence came a day after Israeli forces killed four militants in the southern city of Rafah after they emerged from an underground tunnel and opened fire on troops.
Without commenting directly on the four people killed on Tuesday, the Israeli military said it had carried out attacks targeting what it described as Hamas militants in response to Monday’s incident in Rafah.
In Gaza City, dozens of Palestinians rallied at the funerals of three people who were killed by an Israeli airstrike on an apartment building in the area on Monday night.
One body was wrapped in a Hamas green flag, while another had a green Hamas ribbon on his forehead, signaling that the two were members of the militant group.
Reuters was not able to ascertain the identities of those killed.
Trading blame
Israel and Hamas have repeatedly traded blame for violations of the ceasefire deal, a key element of US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the Gaza war, the deadliest and most destructive in the generations-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The next phase of Trump’s plan involves Hamas disarming, Israel withdrawing its troops from Gaza, and the deployment of an international peacekeeping force. Hamas has long rejected calls to lay down its arms and Israeli officials say they are preparing for a return to full-scale war.
At least 580 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the October ceasefire deal was struck, Gaza’s health ministry says. Israel says four soldiers have been killed by militants in Gaza over the same period.
The Gaza war started with the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on southern Israel that killed more than 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies. Israel’s air and ground war in Gaza has killed more than 72,000 people since then, according to Palestinian health ministry data.
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