IMF Will Only Support a 'Comprehensive Program' for Lebanon, Says Georgieva

An anti-government demonstrator holds a Lebanese flag as she stands on top of her car, during a countrywide lockdown to combat coronavirus, in Beirut, Lebanon April 21, 2020. (Reuters)
An anti-government demonstrator holds a Lebanese flag as she stands on top of her car, during a countrywide lockdown to combat coronavirus, in Beirut, Lebanon April 21, 2020. (Reuters)
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IMF Will Only Support a 'Comprehensive Program' for Lebanon, Says Georgieva

An anti-government demonstrator holds a Lebanese flag as she stands on top of her car, during a countrywide lockdown to combat coronavirus, in Beirut, Lebanon April 21, 2020. (Reuters)
An anti-government demonstrator holds a Lebanese flag as she stands on top of her car, during a countrywide lockdown to combat coronavirus, in Beirut, Lebanon April 21, 2020. (Reuters)

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Thursday the fund would only support a "comprehensive program" for Lebanon that would tackle all the country's ills, including corruption.

"Our team is working very closely with their Lebanese counterparts," Georgieva told reporters. "We are stressing that it has to be a comprehensive program."

Lebanese officials began talks with the IMF last month to pull the Middle Eastern country out of the worst economic crisis in its history, reported AFP.

Georgieva called Lebanon's circumstances "very, very dire," and said "it has been so for a long time, and short of a strong government commitment to change the course of the country, the suffering of the Lebanese people would continue."

She said the Washington-based crisis lender was negotiating over a budget proposal that would address Lebanon's banking sector and "reforms that the country needs including more transparency for what the government does."

Lebanon defaulted on its sovereign debt in 2020, a first in its history.

Its currency has lost about 90 percent of its value on the black market and four out of five Lebanese now live below the poverty line, according to the United Nations, a situation made worse by triple-digit inflation.

Despite the economic collapse, the country's ruling class has blocked reforms that foreign donors say must happen before aid is dispensed.



The Israel-Hezbollah War by the Numbers

People look through the rubble of buildings which were levelled on September 27 by Israeli strikes that targeted and killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, in the Haret Hreik neighborhood of Beirut's southern suburbs, on September 29, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
People look through the rubble of buildings which were levelled on September 27 by Israeli strikes that targeted and killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, in the Haret Hreik neighborhood of Beirut's southern suburbs, on September 29, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
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The Israel-Hezbollah War by the Numbers

People look through the rubble of buildings which were levelled on September 27 by Israeli strikes that targeted and killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, in the Haret Hreik neighborhood of Beirut's southern suburbs, on September 29, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
People look through the rubble of buildings which were levelled on September 27 by Israeli strikes that targeted and killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, in the Haret Hreik neighborhood of Beirut's southern suburbs, on September 29, 2024. (Photo by AFP)

A ceasefire has taken effect between Israel and Lebanon-based Hezbollah after nearly 14 months of cross-border fire.
The ceasefire agreement calls for a two-month initial halt in fighting. It would require Hezbollah to end its armed presence in a broad swath of southern Lebanon, while Israeli troops would return to their side of the border.
The conflict began Oct. 8, 2023, a day after Hamas attacked southern Israel, as Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel in solidarity with Hamas and Israel returned fire. Israel launched a more widespread bombardment of Lebanon two months ago, followed by a ground invasion.
Here’s a look at the conflict by the numbers:
The dead
More than 3,800 people in Lebanon have been killed, many of them civilians. More than 80 Israeli soldiers have been killed, and 47 civilians in Israel.
The damage
Damage in Lebanon is estimated at $8.5 billion including at least 100,000 homes. In Israel, around 5,683 acres of land have burned.
The displaced
An estimated 1.2 million people are displaced in Lebanon and over 46,500 in Israel.
The strikes
Israel has made around 14,000 strikes in Lebanon, while Hezbollah has made more than 2,000 in Israel.