IMF in Lebanon for 2 weeks, Lebanon agrees on Capital Control
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The IMF aid program can be canceled at any second.
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IMF is in Lebanon on a 2-week mission to "solve" the economic crisis.
A delegate for the International Monetary Fund has started talks in Beirut on Wednesday as part of a two-week visit aimed at supposedly solving the economic crisis in Lebanon.
The Lebanese government aims to ink a rescue package to solve a deep financial crisis, raging since 2019, where the country sank even deeper into poverty with the rise of the dollar against the lira.
"We hope that a preliminary deal will be reached after two weeks of discussions," Deputy Prime Minister Saade Chami, who headed the Lebanese delegation to the IMF, told AFP.
Beirut defaulted on its foreign debt for the first time in 2020.
The IMF noted progress toward an aid framework but stated that some work was needed on the reform front. The financial giant also visited Lebanon last month.
Ernesto Ramirez, the head of the IMF delegation, sat with Lebanese President Michel Aoun to discuss the matter, according to a statement by the presidency.
Financial analyst Mike Azar said that even if Lebanon and the IMF were to reach an initial agreement, implementing it will be a major challenge.
Capitol Control gets a yes
In the meeting in Baabda between Aoun, Mikati, and other ministers, as announced by the Minister of Information Ziad Al-Makari, the Lebanese government has finally approved the Capital Control law - with some amendments - based on some of the ministers' observations.
The Cabinet approved the request of the Minister of Finance, Yousef Khalil, to pay the government's dues to the World Bank and the criminal audit offices. The Energy and Water Minister, Walid Fayad, will be transferring $76 million to secure the safety of investment in the labor sector in Lebanon.
The adoption of the Capital Control law came in a new form today, unlike what it was in the joint meeting last Monday between the justice and finance committees in the House of Representatives.
