Lebanon economic crisis worsened by failure to take policy action, IMF says

Lebanon's financial crisis had been compounded by the lack of policy action and vested interests that prompted resistance to reforms, the International Monetary Fund said on Thursday in its first Article IV report since the economy began to unravel in 2019.

The lender of last resort said that delay had led to a decrease in the foreign currency deposits that could eventually be recovered when the banking sector is restructured, saying $10 billion less could be recovered now than in 2020. If the status quo continues, public debt could reach 547% of GDP by 2027, it said.

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