Lebanese Minister of Information Manal Abdel Samad revealed after the end of the cabinet meeting held in the government palace headed by PM Hassan Diab, that there are "positive indications" for negotiations with the International Monetary Fund, and it is supposed that the Minister of Finance Ghazi Wazni will explain the developments of this file, next week.
The International Monetary Fund froze the negotiations that started with the Lebanese side in May, pending the determination of losses and their size in all sectors, which is a major point of contention between banks and the government, and the start of the reforms that it requested, in order to provide the financial assistance that Lebanon needs to get out of the financial crisis that has imposed major threat to the country, in light of the deterioration of the national currency and its loss over 80% of its value.
The Lebanese government has not yet started any serious reforms mentioned, and the gap between the differences is growing in the ranks of the Lebanese negotiating delegation, and this was translated with the resignation of two members of it, which constituted a major threat to the path of negotiations.
The director of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, confirmed that there is no reason so far to expect a breakthrough for the economic crisis in Lebanon. She pointed out that the global economic crisis caused by the Coronavirus may eventually be a test of the trillion-dollar resources of the Fund, "but we have not yet reached that point."
Source (New Arab newspaper, Edited)
