Saudi Ambassador, IMF Delegation Discuss Conditions for Lebanon’s Recovery

  Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Lebanon Walid Al-Bukhari met with the visiting IMF delegation, headed by Ernesto Ramirez Rigo. (Markaziah Agency)
Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Lebanon Walid Al-Bukhari met with the visiting IMF delegation, headed by Ernesto Ramirez Rigo. (Markaziah Agency)
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Saudi Ambassador, IMF Delegation Discuss Conditions for Lebanon’s Recovery

  Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Lebanon Walid Al-Bukhari met with the visiting IMF delegation, headed by Ernesto Ramirez Rigo. (Markaziah Agency)
Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Lebanon Walid Al-Bukhari met with the visiting IMF delegation, headed by Ernesto Ramirez Rigo. (Markaziah Agency)

Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Beirut Walid Al-Bukhari discussed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation the necessary conditions for Lebanon's economic recovery.

Al-Bukhari met with the visiting IMF delegation, headed by Ernesto Ramirez Rigo, on Wednesday at his residence in Yarzeh, east of Beirut.

Talks during the meeting touched on the overall developments in Lebanon and the region, the conditions for recovery that the country needs to overcome its political and economic crisis, as well as other issues of common concern.

The delegation met earlier with the chairman of the Finance and Budget Committee in the Lebanese Parliament, MP Ibrahim Kanaan, and the head of the Administration and Justice Committee, MP George Adwan. Discussions focused on the financial and economic situation and the path towards the agreement with the IMF.

In comments following the meeting, Kanaan said: “The two sides agreed on the need to elect a president for the republic as a starting point for restructuring the institutions and producing a homogeneous government team that has a clear road map for financial and economic rescue and implementation of the required reforms.”

He continued: “It is not only related to passing laws to launch the agreement with the IMF, but, more importantly, the possibility of respecting and implementing them to restore local and international confidence, and thus investments.”

In this regard, Kanaan pointed to the need to adopt a different approach and a new monetary policy within the government and the Banque du Liban, stressing the importance of an independent judiciary that “exercises its role in the event of any discrepancy in government work and the Lebanese administration.”



Gulf Countries Deplore Escalating Tensions in the Region

FILE PHOTO: Satellite image shows the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, in Bushehr Province, Iran, May 26, 2025. 2025 Planet Labs PBC/Handout via REUTERS
FILE PHOTO: Satellite image shows the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, in Bushehr Province, Iran, May 26, 2025. 2025 Planet Labs PBC/Handout via REUTERS
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Gulf Countries Deplore Escalating Tensions in the Region

FILE PHOTO: Satellite image shows the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, in Bushehr Province, Iran, May 26, 2025. 2025 Planet Labs PBC/Handout via REUTERS
FILE PHOTO: Satellite image shows the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, in Bushehr Province, Iran, May 26, 2025. 2025 Planet Labs PBC/Handout via REUTERS

The United Arab Emirates urged on Sunday an immediate halt to escalation to "avoid serious repercussions" in the region following strikes by the US on Iran's nuclear facilities.

It warned that such actions could lead the region to "new levels of instability," according to a statement from the foreign ministry.

Qatar also said on Sunday that dangerous tensions following the US strikes on Iran's nuclear sites would lead to "catastrophic repercussions" on both regional and international levels.

In a post on X, the foreign ministry deplored the "deterioration" to the status quo after the US strikes.

It called on all parties “to exercise wisdom, restraint, and to avoid further escalation."

Oman condemned the airstrikes, saying they escalated tensions in the region.

The US airstrikes threaten “to expand the scope of the conflict and constitute a serious violation of international law and the United Nations charter,” a spokesperson for Oman’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

Oman was a mediator in the nuclear talks between Iran and the US that have been upended by the Israel-Iran war.