Lebanese PM expects progress in talks with IMF over meltdown

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s prime minister says talks between his government and the International Monetary Fund over an economic recovery plan should make progress in the next two weeks. Najib Mikati made his comments to reporters on Saturday in Qatar, where he is attending the Doha Forum. He said an IMF delegation will resume talks with the government in Beirut on Tuesday over the country’s economic meltdown that began more than two years ago. Lebanon’s economic crisis that began in October 2019 is rooted in decades of corruption and mismanagement. It has left three-quarters of the population of 6 million people, including 1 million Syrian refugees, in poverty.