The World Bank stated that Lebanon’s financial loss in the economic crisis exceeded 72 billion dollars, which is equivalent to 3 times the country’s gross domestic product.
The World Bank Lebanon Economic Observatory has released the Winter 2022 Lebanon Financial Report.
The report, which refers to the balance sheet of the deep economic crisis Lebanon is in, said, “The World Bank believes that the financial loss exceeds 72 billion dollars, and this figure is 3 times the gross domestic product of Lebanon in 2021.” expressions were used.
Pointing out that there are no public resources or financial instruments to cover the increasing financial loss in the country, the report said, “The only real option for Lebanon is to get rid of the current unsustainable development model.” it was said.
World Bank Regional Director Jean-Christophe Carret said that Lebanon urgently needs to adopt a comprehensive and fair solution to put the economy on a path to recovery and restore stability in the financial sector.
The report did not include information on how many years or what time period the financial loss covered.
economic crisis in lebanon
Lebanon has been experiencing a serious economic crisis, especially since 2019.
After the economic crisis, the Central Bank of Lebanon froze all foreign currency deposit accounts in the country to prevent the melting of foreign currency reserves.
The country’s authorities started negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 2020 to get out of the economic crisis and reached a preliminary agreement for a conditional loan of 3 billion dollars on April 8, 2022.
The Lebanese government, on the other hand, has not yet been able to implement the radical economic reforms demanded by the IMF, except for the approval of the budget.
