The first coordination meeting between the ambassadors of the CEDRE donor conference held in Paris in 2018 and Prime Minister Hassan Diab’s cabinet ended with a deal to reduce the value of the projects agreed between Lebanon and the international donors.
During the meeting, which was held at the Grand Serail on Tuesday, Diab emphasized that his cabinet was committed to implementing the reform program which was put forward by the previous government of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri.
Some Arab ambassadors, whose countries had pledged to finance a number of projects, did not attend the meeting, but were represented by diplomats, as happened in talks held by the Friends of Lebanon Group at the invitation of Diab earlier this month.
While the French envoy in charge of following up on the reforms pledged by Lebanon at the CEDRE conference, Pierre Duquesne, stressed that the 2018 plan was “still valid”, other participants reminded the government that the approved administrative and financial reforms were closely tied with the ongoing negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The ambassadors underlined that the reforms were mandatory to revive the CEDRE decisions and to obtain from the IMF a loan to finance Lebanon’s recovery plan.
In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, political sources questioned the reason behind the donors’ decision to reduce the funding value of the projects.
“Is it because the world is preoccupied with combating the outbreak of the coronavirus, or because Lebanon is not adhering to the policy of dissociation?” the sources asked.
The country is currently paying the price for obstructing the approval of reforms adopted during the international conference, according to the sources.
They pointed to a distorted relationship with a number of Arab countries, in particular Gulf states, which had agreed to finance projects included in the CEDRE reform plan.
“The government has not taken any initiative towards these countries, even though it is hinging on the Fund’s approval to finance the recovery plan to pave way for financial support to Lebanon,” the sources remarked.
Diab’s government is still extremely responsive to Hezbollah, and has not demonstrated its commitment to the policy of dissociation, they added.
Lebanon had won aid pledges exceeding $11 billion at the CEDRE conference.
