Lebanese PM expects progress in talks with IMF over meltdown

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

BEIRUT -- Talks between the Lebanese government and the International Monetary Fund over an economic recovery plan should make progress in the next two weeks, Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Saturday.

Speaking to reporters in Qatar, where he is attending the Doha Forum, Mikati 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.

Talks between Lebanon and the IMF began in May 2020, then stopped for months amid a political deadlock in the small country. They resumed after Mikati took office in September but no breakthrough has been made since.

A main sticking point in the talks has been estimating the amount of financial losses. But late last year, Deputy Prime Minister Saadeh Shami, who is heading the talks with the IMF, put the losses of the financial sector at $69 billion.