• January 7, 2022
• By L'Orient Today

Kabalan Farah- On IMF deal, a large gap remains between political rhetoric and reality In recent weeks, several high-ranking government officials have insisted that discussions with the International Monetary Fund are progressing and that a preliminary deal is around the corner.MP Nicholas Nahas (Azm Movement bloc/Tripoli), who has taken part in recent government meetings regarding the negotiations with the IMF, told LBCI that negotiations with the IMF will start on Jan. 17; while Deputy Prime Minister Saade Chami, a member of the negotiating team, said that negotiations with the fund could provide their first “concrete” results as early as the end of January.However, up until now, minimal information has been shared to support their optimism. The only data point that has been made publicly available is the size of the losses of the financial sector, which, according to Chami, stand at $68-69 billion How this number is broken down and who will eventually shoulder the pain – the Lebanese government, the banks’ shareholders or the depositors – are a few of the many questions that remain unanswered.
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