Lebanon approves some banking law changes demanded by IMF

By BASSEM MROUE and KAREEM CHEHAYEB
Associated Press

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s parliament has approved amendments to a banking secrecy law, a key demand of the International Monetary Fund before agreeing to a bailout program. Lebanese legislators late Tuesday approved the reiterated law with some slight changes, which legal and advocacy groups have critiqued as insufficient for international standards. Since Lebanon’s economic meltdown began in late 2019, three-quarters of the country plunged into poverty. The Lebanese pound has lost more than 90% of its value. The international community has been demanding major reforms before helping the corruption-plagued nation. A key demand by the IMF in a tentative agreement has been to allow the country’s tax authority to lift banking secrecy, which parliament’s finance committee rejected.