Lebanon Needs Urgent Help, Analysts Say
Voice of America
AMMAN, JORDAN - The International Monetary Fund says Lebanon won’t pull itself out of its economic crisis until a new government is formed to start long-stalled reforms. But Lebanese analysts say they are being held hostage by a corrupt political class and need outside help to break the logjam to create conditions that bring the country back from the brink. One suggestion is to set up a temporary United Nations trusteeship council for Lebanon to get the country back on its feet.
By defaulting on its $1.2 billion Eurobond debt last year, Lebanon’s currency crashed and its economy shrank by 25 percent. Jihad Azour, head of the International Monetary Fund’s Middle East department told Reuters that addressing Lebanon’s dire economic crisis now “requires a comprehensive approach” with multiple financial and governance reforms. He warned that “in (the) absence of a new government that can lead this transformation, it’s very difficult to expect that the situation will in itself improve.” But Professor Habib Malik of the Lebanese American University told VOA that the Lebanese people are caught in a vice between the political warlords and the de-facto power, the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia.A textbook is seen on a high school student's desk during a philosophy class at the Averroes school, France's biggest Muslim educational institution that has lost its state funding, Lille, France, March 19, 2024. Middle school students, some wearing a hijab, listen to teacher Ilyas Laarej during an Islamic ethics class at the Averroes school, France's biggest Muslim educational institution that has lost its state funding, Lille, France, March 19, 2024. High school student Noha Fouad and her friend walks toward a classroom and in front of a banner that says "Ramadan Kareem" in the courtyard of the Averroes school, Lille, France, March 19, 2024. A middle school student scribbles on a piece of paper during an Islamic ethics class at the Averroes school, France's biggest Muslim educational institution that has lost its state funding, Lille, France, March 19, 2024. Students wearing abayas put their shoes back on as they prepare to leave the prayer room at the Averroes school, France's biggest Muslim educational institution that has lost its state funding, Lille, France, March 19, 2024.
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U.S. WWII veteran Harold Terens, 100, left, and Jeanne Swerlin, 96, arrive to celebrate their wedding at the town hall of Carentan-les-Marais in Normandy, France, June 8, 2024. U.S. WWII veteran Harold Terens, 100, left, and Jeanne Swerlin, 96, celebrate their wedding in Normandy, France, June 8, 2024. U.S. WWII veteran Harold Terens, 100, left, and Jeanne Swerlin, 96, kiss in Normandy, France, June 8, 2024.