Austrian FM: Lebanon can get IMF aid if Beirut makes reforms

12/1/2022 18:57

        Austria's foreign minister said Wednesday that the European Union wants to help Lebanon escape its economic meltdown, but only if the country's leaders clean up Beirut's affairs.
        
        Alexander Schallenberg told reporters after meeting his Lebanese counterpart in Beirut that Lebanon should reach a deal with the International Monetary Fund, move forward with the investigation into the August 2020 port blast and restructure the hard-hit banking sector.
        
        Lebanon's economic crisis, which started in 2019, is rooted in decades of corruption and mismanagement by the small country's political class. Bickering between rival groups has so far prevented economic reforms demanded by the international community in order to release billions of dollars of investments.