BEIRUT: The International Monetary Fund renewed its criticism of Lebanon Friday for failing to enact reforms demanded by creditors in return for releasing billions of dollars in emergency bailout loans.
“Lebanon has not undertaken the urgently needed reforms, and this will weigh on the economy for years to come,” said the IMF’s Ernesto Ramirez Rigo in a statement at the end of a visit to Beirut.
since late 2019, Lebanon has been mired in an economic crisis the World Bank has described as one of the worst in recent world history, pushing most of the population into poverty.
In April 2022, Lebanon and the IMF reached conditional agreement on a $3-billion-dollar loan pacakage to bail out the economy.
But politicians have yet to enact the painful reforms demanded to begin the 46-month financing program.
A seasonal uptick in tourism has increased foreign currency inflows, Ramirez Rigo said. Most tourists are Lebanese expatriates returning home for the summer holidays.
“It gives the impression that the economy has bottomed out of the crisis and is leading to complacency. However, receipts from tourism and remittances fall far short of what is needed,” he said.
The IMF deal is conditional on a series of measures, including passing a 2024 budget, unifying Lebanon’s multiple exchange rates, restructuring the banking sector and implementing formal capital controls.
Lebanon has taken some steps, including a belated 2023 budget, but the IMF has said repeatedly that they are not enough.
On July 31, Lebanon’s former central bank chief Riad Salameh, who is wanted for alleged financial crimes in several European countries, left office with no designated successor in place.
First vice-governor Wassim Manssouri has taken over on a temporary basis, but divided politicians have failed to agree on a permanent replacement, creating another power vacuum in a country that also has no president and is ruled by a caretaker government.
In late June, the IMF warned that Lebanon’s failure to implement reforms could have “irreversible” consequences for its economic and social stability.
IMF criticizes Lebanon for failure to adopt reforms
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IMF criticizes Lebanon for failure to adopt reforms
- “Lebanon has not undertaken the urgently needed reforms, and this will weigh on the economy for years to come,” said the IMF’s Ernesto Ramirez Rigo
- A seasonal uptick in tourism has increased foreign currency inflows, Ramirez Rigo said
Turkiye ‘deeply disturbed’ over Israel-US strikes, Iran attacks on Gulf
- “We are deeply disturbed over the US-Israel attacks on our neighbor Iran,” Erdogan said
- “In order to prevent our region from experiencing greater suffering, all actors, especially the Islamic world, must take action“
ISTANBUL: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday he was “deeply disturbed” by the Israeli-US attacks on Iran, but also condemned Tehran’s retaliatory strikes on the Gulf, demanding action to end the conflict.
The confrontation began earlier on Saturday with the Israeli and US strikes and quickly broadened regionally as Tehran retaliated against Gulf states and Israel.
“We are deeply disturbed over the US-Israel attacks on our neighbor Iran,” Erdogan said in a televised address, in which he also denounced Iran’s drone and missile attacks against the Gulf as “unacceptable, regardless of the reason.”
“In order to prevent our region from experiencing greater suffering, all actors, especially the Islamic world, must take action,” he added.
Turkiye had “worked hard for a long time to resolve the conflicts at the negotiating table... but the trust deficit between the parties could not be overcome,” he said, vowing to “accelerate Turkiye’s diplomatic efforts” to bring the parties back to the table.
Earlier Saturday, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan spoke by phone with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi and six other top diplomats about ways to “end the attacks,” a foreign ministry source said.
Erdogan also said Turkiye had not seen any problem “in terms of border security” along the 500-kilometer (300-mile) frontier it shares with Iran.
“The police, gendarmerie and intelligence services are taking all necessary measures,” he said.
Earlier, Turkiye’s Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci also held calls with his Azerbaijani counterpart Vilayet Eyvazov and Iraq’s Interior Minister Abdul?Amir al?Shammari on “strengthening areas of cooperation,” the ministry wrote on X.
All three countries share a border with Iran.
Iran’s neighbors have long feared that a new round of strikes on the country could destabilize the entire region, with concerns focused on a possible influx of refugees.
Turkiye currently hosts more than 74,000 Iranians with residence permits and some 5,000 refugees.
