Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Monday his government would immediately resume negotiations with the International Monetary Fund to win the IMF's support for a short and medium-term economic rescue program. Mikati, presenting his program before a parliamentary vote of confidence on his government, said his Cabinet would work on further cementing relations with the Arab countries. He pledged to present a plan aimed at reforming and restructuring the banking system with the aim of talking to the creditors over the restructuring of the general debt. Mikati said the government would close illegal border crossings coupled with increasing the supervision on legal crossings. The parliament is expected to vote on Mikati's government later tonight. The 24-member Cabinet's most pressing mission over the coming weeks will be to help improve conditions in the country of 6 million, including a million Syrian refugees. More than half the population now lives in poverty amid extended power outages and severe shortages in fuel and medicine. President Michel Aoun told ministers during the Cabinet meeting that their government policy statement should include the resumption of talks with the IMF, which were suspended last year. He also called for a plan to fight corruption and move forward with the investigation into last year's massive explosion at Beirut's port that killed at least 214 people, wounded over 6,000 others and damaged parts of the capital. Information Minister George Kordahi told reporters after the meeting that Mikati plans to hold intense Cabinet meetings to work on improving matters that "have direct effects on citizens." Kordahi quoted Mikati, a billionaire businessman who served twice before as premier, as saying during the meeting that "people are looking for actions and are not concerned anymore about talks and promises." The country's economic crisis, unfolding since 2019, has been described by the World Bank as one of the worst the world has witnessed since the mid-1800s. It impoverished more than half the population within months and left the national currency in a freefall, driving inflation and unemployment to unprecedented levels. Also on Monday, the Finance Ministry said Lebanon will receive more than $1 billion from the IMF's Special Drawing Rights program as is part of the IMF's push to boost global liquidity. Last month, the IMF's governing body approved a $650 billion expansion in the agency's resources to support economically vulnerable countries battling the coronavirus pandemic and the economic downturn it has caused. About $275 billion of the new allocation will go to the world's poorer countries. The Finance Ministry said Lebanon will receive on Thursday $1.135 billion in SDRs. The SDRs, which can be changed into foreign currency, is a much needed boost and comes as Lebanon's central bank reserves are being rapidly depleted. — Agencies
