Reuters/Mohamed Azakir
Lebanon needs a comprehensive strategy for rebooting its economy in order to access a programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), with stress on data transparency, the fund said on Thursday.
“First and foremost, what is needed is a comprehensive strategy for economic rehabilitation,” said fund spokesperson Julie Kozack in a press briefing.
She confirmed that the government had formally requested a new programme during an IMF mission to Lebanon that took place earlier in March.
Kozack said the reform programme should focus on fiscal and debt sustainability as well as a restructuring of the financial sector, reforms to governance and state-owned enterprises.
“Critically, it’s going to be important to enhance data provision, to improve transparency and to inform policymaking,” Kozack said.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said earlier this month that discussions with the IMF emphasised the need to finalise a loan programme before the summer of 2025.
A more than five-year financial crisis has collapsed the Lebanese economy, compounded by last year’s war between the armed group Hezbollah and Israel.
