IMF spokeswoman Julie Kozak said the Fund’s staff had concluded the Article IV consultation with the Lebanese authorities on June 1, concluding that reforms were needed to end the “serious crisis”. and getting worse” facing the Lebanese economy.
“Lebanon needs urgent action to implement a comprehensive economic reform program to end the serious and deepening crisis and allow its economy to recover,” she said. , adding that the International Monetary Fund fears that delays in implementing necessary reforms could lead to a serious economic crisis. slow-down.
“We are worried about the irreparable consequences for the economy, especially for poor and middle-class Lebanese,” she added.
Kozak added that the fund remains committed and ready to support Lebanon, but that it will also need strong financial support from the international community to cover the “very significant financial needs” it will face in the years to come. .
She explained that to achieve this goal, it is necessary for the Lebanese government to obtain broad political support to implement the economic reforms agreed with the Fund’s experts in April 2020 to end the current crisis.
She said Jihad Azour, an International Monetary Fund official and former Lebanese finance minister, is on temporary leave to avoid any potential conflict of interest after being named Lebanon’s president by the Lebanese opposition and major parties. Christians to compete. with Hezbollah-backed candidate Suleiman Franjieh.
He went on to say that Azour, who heads the International Monetary Fund’s Middle East and Central Asia department, had temporarily stepped down from his duties at the global institution and is now on leave to “avoid any perception of conflict of interest”. ‘interests”.
There has been no president for Lebanon since the end of President Michel Aoun’s mandate at the end of October, which has exacerbated the paralysis of institutions in a country where one of the worst economic crises in the world has been worsening for years. .
Franjieh, 56, is the scion of an old Lebanese Christian political family and an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, with close ties to the ruling political establishment in Damascus.
Opposition MPs have said a consensus around Azour could help him secure the required 65 votes in a secret ballot to be held by the 128-member parliament to choose the next president.
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