The International Monetary Fund warned on Thursday that Lebanon was in a very dangerous situation a year after it committed to reforms it has failed to implement and said the government must stop borrowing from the central bank.
IMF mission chief Ernesto Rigo told a news conference in Beirut that the authorities should accelerate the implementation of conditions set for a $3 billion bailout.
Without implementing rapid reforms, Lebanon "will be mired in a never-ending crisis," the IMF warned in a written statement after Rigo's remarks. The government estimates losses in the financial system total more than $70 billion, the majority of which were accrued at the central bank."Over the years, the government has been borrowing from the central bank. Not just in the past the last few months, which is something we have recommended should stop."
Still, he said that the IMF would "never walk away" from helping a member country and there was no deadline for Lebanon to implement the reforms."To anyone observing Lebanon over the last four years, the likelihood of an IMF program being implemented appears slim to none," Mike Azar, a financial consultant and expert on the Lebanese financial crisis, told Reuters.
But the IMF's statement on Thursday said the revised banking secrecy law should be amended again "to address outstanding critical weaknesses".
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