Caretaker PM Warns Lebanon’s Total Economic Collapse Imminent 

Via The Cradle,

Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, warned on Thursday that the nation’s whole financial collapse will probably be imminent within the occasion that the Central Bank and its newly appointed governor fail to implement reform insurance policies referred to as for by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). 

“Lebanon will not be able to secure medicine or pay salaries in foreign currency, in the event that the monetary and economic plan presented by the Acting Governor of the Banque du Liban, Wassim Mansouri, is not approved,” the caretaker prime minister stated. 

“Mansouri’s plan is consistent with the government’s plans, and our goal is to approve these plans and not waste time because the goal is to save the country,” he said.

In reference to consultations made recently between Mikati and the interim bank governor, the former said that there is “concord [in the Central Bank] with the federal government’s plans.”

However, Lebanese media reported Thursday that the Central Bank is considering completely halting its funding of the state as of Monday, August 7. 

Upon taking the reins of the Central Bank following the end of Riad Salameh’s term last month, Mansouri said: “I cannot signal on any expenditure for financing the federal government if it contravenes with my ideas or the suitable authorized framework.” 

Days later, Lebanon’s parliament failed to pass a law that would allow the state to borrow foreign currency from the Central Bank. Mansouri’s condition for lending funds to the state from the Central Bank was the passing of the law, and the reimbursement of the funds “by way of a sensible plan,” Naharnet reported. 

The reforms that the caretaker prime minister referred to include capital controls, a bank restructuring law, and the 2023 state budget – which are all conditions imposed by the IMF for a bailout package. 

#LEBWatch: Lebanon is on the verge of economic collapse under the incompetent and corrupt Mikati government. By my measure, inflation in LEB is now surging at a SKY-HIGH 216%/yr. The only way for LEB to crush inflation is with a #CurrencyBoard. pic.twitter.com/5scAIlkZsP

— Steve Hanke (@steve_hanke) July 28, 2023

Lebanon has been negotiating with the IMF with the intention to safe a bailout package deal to alleviate the extreme financial disaster created by many years of corruption within the monetary sector. 

However, Washington, the IMF, and the World Bank have been accused of exploiting the nation’s financial disaster to exert political stress on Lebanon. 

As a results of the monetary disaster Lebanon faces, the nation’s foreign money has misplaced 98 p.c of its worth, and the life financial savings of a majority of residents have been worn out. 

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Meanwhile…

The US embassy in Beirut – which has pushed the financial collapse of Lebanon and holds the nation’s political class hostage – preaches about Woke Shit to a rustic busy in search of its subsequent meal. https://t.co/vSaAQR3KCH

— Sharmine Narwani (@snarwani) May 17, 2023