After having hoped for the conclusion of a memorandum of understanding with the IMF at the end of the year, a deadline which today seems difficult to meet due to the paralysis of the Mikati III government following the boycott of certain ministers, the deputy President of the Council of Ministers, Saadeh Chami in charge of the file, indicated that he hoped to open negotiations with the international institution in January.
He spoke at the end of a meeting with the President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun at the Baabda Palace.
Thus, an IMF delegation will visit Lebanon in January to determine the progress already made in Lebanon, progress however, very limited note the observers, who underline the lack of progress on several key aspects such as the restructuring of the banking sector or even preliminary economic and financial reforms. Thus, some sources also believe that the fact that certain members of the Lebanese delegation which is negotiating with the IMF are the subject of accusations of embezzlement, as is the case of the governor of the Central Bank, Riad Salamé, complicates the negotiations at lead, even though the banking sector’s losses are now estimated at around $ 69 billion.
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The Governor of the BdL is also widely criticized for failing to unify the different exchange rates, on the contrary multiplying them. For his part, he defends himself, believing that a unification of the different rates « would not be possible » without an agreement from the IMF and a political consensus. Riad Salamé had also estimated that 12 to 15 billion dollars were necessary to start the revival of the Lebanese economy, an insufficient sum, judge of many economists.
