Lebanon won’t get a bailout “” but a will to reform could lead to substantial aid, U.S. diplomat says

Lebanon won’t get a bailout “” but a will to reform could lead to substantial aid, U.S. diplomat says

Lebanon's economic situation is facing "immediate catastrophe," according to a top U.S. diplomat, who said the country's leaders need to demonstrate the will to reform before any external assistance can take place. David Hale, who most recently served as the undersecretary of state for political affairs and is now on detail from the State Department at policy institute the Wilson Center, said that Lebanon's collapse is imminent. "There's not going to be any international bailout, but there will be substantial assistance for a reform program," Hale told CNBC's Hadley Gamble Wednesday. Twenty months into Lebanon's political and economic crisis, the country still remains politically gridlocked. Three-time premier Saad Hariri, nominated in October as prime minister-designate, has failed to form a new government which would enact the reforms needed to unlock crucial international aid. Caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab resigned in the aftermath of the Aug. 4 Beirut explosion. He now governs with limited authority. "The key to opening the door is in the hands of Lebanese leaders, they have to demonstrate to us that they have the will and the capacity to take the reforms needed so that any international financing will not be wasted, as it has been in