IMF criticizes Lebanese government over slow reforms

By BASSEM MROUE
Associated Press

BEIRUT (AP) — The International Monetary Fund says the Lebanese government’s slowness to implement desperately-needed reforms was exacerbating the country’s economic meltdown. The IMF statement Wednesday followed a meeting in Beirut between the fund’s representatives and Lebanese officials to discuss an urgent and long-delayed bailout. The Lebanese government has implemented few of the IMF’s demands from a preliminary staff-level agreement, which lists five “key pillars” that should be implemented, before finalizing a bailout program. The IMF said Lebanon’s GDP has contracted by over 40% since 2018, while inflation remains in the triple digits and foreign reserves are dwindling.