Lebanese President Michel Aoun called on the international community on Monday to support the country financially to help him overcome the severe economic collapse that he has witnessed for months and has been exacerbated by the outbreak of the emerging Corona virus.
The country has been experiencing a rapid economic downturn for months, with a severe shortage of liquidity and a significant decline in foreign reserves, with the value of the lira against the dollar declining in the parallel market.
While the government, which was formed at the beginning of the year, was working on an economic plan that it described as “rescue”, the Covid-19 epidemic arrived in Lebanon, which has so far officially recorded 527 injuries, including 18 deaths.
Aoun said during his meeting with the ambassadors of the countries of the International Group to Support Lebanon, which includes European and Arab countries, “Given the seriousness of the current financial situation, and the significant economic effects on the Lebanese, residents, and displaced persons, our reform program will need external financial support to support the balance of payments and to develop our vital sectors.”
The International Support Group, during its last meeting in Paris at the end of last year, stipulated the formation of an “effective and credible” government that would undertake “urgent” reforms to provide any financial assistance to Lebanon.
Aoun explained that Lebanon was “preparing to launch a workshop to address its economic, financial and social crises when an epidemic hit 19 countries, so it was forced to declare a state of health emergency, which somewhat hindered its launch, exacerbated its crises and added to it the health crisis.”
Today, Lebanon is suffering from debts amounting to $ 92 billion, which constitutes about 170 percent of gross domestic product, according to the credit rating agency Standard and Poor’s. This percentage is among the highest in the world.
Lebanon announced last month that it had stopped paying all Eurobond dues in foreign currencies as part of a comprehensive debt restructuring that would protect the “limited foreign exchange reserve.”
The influx of Syrian refugees since the conflict began in the neighboring country nine years ago has exacerbated the economic burden in this small country of fragile potential.
“A few days ago, the Secretary-General of the United Nations described the Covid-19 pandemic as the worst global crisis since the Second World War, and the Syrian refugee crisis was previously described as the worst humanitarian crisis since the Second World War. Lebanon today brings on its soil the greatest burden and the two worst crises that have afflicted the world. For 75 years. “
The authorities estimate that there are 1.5 million Syrian refugees, less than a million of whom are registered with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Most of them live in difficult living conditions and count on international aid.
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