Lebanon reaches preliminary $3bn deal with IMF

Lebanon reaches preliminary $3bn deal with IMF

Lebanon and the IMF have reached a preliminary agreement for a $3bn loan facility, the first significant step towards bringing relief from an economic and financial crisis that has crippled the country since 2019.

Two years after the onset of the crisis, the country’s currency has lost more than 90 per cent of its value and nearly three-quarters of its people live below the poverty line, according to the UN.

The long hoped-for bailout, announced on Thursday, is vital to stem the further collapse of the economy, but talks between the IMF and Lebanese authorities had repeatedly stalled over economic reforms required by donors.

“The [Extended Fund Arrangement] aims to support the authorities’ reform strategy to restore growth and financial sustainability, strengthen governance and transparency, and increase social and reconstruction spending,” the IMF said in a statement on Thursday.

Unveiling the deal following a meeting with IMF delegates in Beirut, Najib Mikati, Lebanon’s prime minister, said his government had promised the fund that it would implement wide-ranging reforms.

The crisis demanded “a comprehensive reform program” in order to achieve “financial and economic stability and . . . permanent and strong growth”, he said.

In its statement the IMF said: “This crisis is a manifestation of deep and persistent vulnerabilities generated