RIYADH: Lebanon may be closer than ever to breaking a two-year stalemate in talks with the IMF, a senior official said.
The move could help draw a line under one of the world’s worst financial crises in more than a century, Bloomberg reported.
The country’s economy is facing hyperinflation with a currency devaluation after the government defaulted on international debts of more than $30 billion.
As major legislation makes its way through the parliament, Lebanese authorities are turning more optimistic they can reach a staff-level agreement with the Washington-based lender before elections in May, Deputy Prime Minister Saade Chami said in an interview.
An IMF delegation arrived in Beirut this week on a mission that the authorities hope will conclude with the signing of the so-called “Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies.”
This is a list of actions the country needs to take to clear the way for the disbursement of up to $5 billion in aid.
It may also release $11 billion in other financial commitments made to Lebanon in the past few years, according to Bloomberg.
