Cash-strapped Lebanon is set to request technical assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Thursday, according to a senior political source. The source told Reuters on Wednesday that the formal request will be sent “in the coming hours” for advice on how to help stabilise the country’s nose-diving economy, and potentially restructure its debt, Middle East Eye reported. Lebanon has a $1.2bn Eurobond maturing on 9 March and is apparently seeking advice on whether to pay it.

Lebanon needs the help of the International Monetary Fund to draft a rescue plan and decide whether to repay its $1.2 billion Eurobond maturing next month, a local newspaper cited a veteran politician and member of the ruling coalition as saying, Bloomberg News reported. With the country facing its worst financial crisis in decades after months of protests, parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said Lebanon should form a task force comprising the premier, ministers of economy and finance as well as legal and financial experts, Annahar newspaper reported.

Some foreign holders of Lebanon’s bonds are expressing support for a government debt restructuring as the clamor grows among local politicians to skip a payment due in weeks, Bloomberg News reported. At a private meeting days ago with government representatives, a number of foreign funds that own Eurobonds, including a $1.2 billion note due March 9, argued that Lebanon would be better off restructuring rather than paying its debt, said a person familiar with the matter, declining to identify the investors.

Lebanon’s cash-strapped authorities are struggling to decide what to do about a $1.2 billion Eurobond maturing in March but are leaning towards repayment for foreign holders and a swap for local investors, political and banking sources said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Lebanon, which has never defaulted on its hefty debt, is in the throes of a financial and economic crisis that has shattered confidence in banks and ignited protests against a political elite blamed for steering the country towards collapse.

Lebanon's banks further tightened limits on foreign currency withdrawals on Monday, with at least one financial institution restricting depositors to a maximum withdrawal of $400 a month, Al Jazeera reported. Curbs on withdrawals and other unofficial capital controls were first implemented in November following bank closures in response to nationwide protests against corruption, political sclerosis and the government's mismanagement of the economy.

Lebanon’s central bank told local lenders to settle their debt securities and Certificates of Deposit in client accounts at banks working in the country exclusively, part of emergency measures to avoid capital flight, Bloomberg News reported. In a circular issued Thursday and effective for six months, banks will settle the value and interest of debt securities issued by them as well as Certificate of Deposits in accounts in Lebanon. Local lenders and the central bank have taken a series of measures to protect the sector and prevent a run on the banks as they ration U.S.

As investors count down to Lebanon’s next bond maturity on March 9, a fresh meltdown in the debt market reflects their concern over the government’s solvency, Bloomberg News reported. Many of the crisis-ridden nation’s Eurobonds have slumped to record lows as relief over the formation of a new government last week proved to be short-lived…Lebanon is grappling with its worst economic and political crisis in decades, following months of protests.

Crisis-ridden Lebanon finally has a government again and top of its agenda will be whether to repay a Eurobond maturing in six weeks. After lawmakers passed the 2020 budget on Monday, the new cabinet’s next major decision will be what to do about the $1.2 billion of bonds due on March 9, Bloomberg News reported. The team of 20, led by Prime Minister Hassan Diab, a computing-engineering professor, will meet this week with nationwide protests continuing, the central bank’s foreign reserves falling and the diaspora inflows that have kept the economy afloat for decades slowing to a trickle.

Lebanese lawmakers approved a 2020 budget plan with a crucial Eurobond payment weeks away, leaving it to the new government to decide on whether to pay creditors or save what’s left of the country’s reserves, Bloomberg News reported. The fiscal program passed on Monday by a vote of 49 to 13, with eight abstentions. The legislature approved the budget that envisages a 6% deficit, a far cry from a goal set by Lebanon’s former government to bring it close to zero. It includes no new taxes.

Lebanon's new government must decide whether to seek help from the International Monetary Fund to help ease its financial crisis, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. Any programme is likely to require Lebanon to agree to measures ranging from increasing taxes to fighting corruption. Based mainly on previous IMF recommendations, here are some steps Lebanon might have to take as part of any deal: Draw up a medium-term plan to fill Lebanon's yawning fiscal deficit and bring public debt down to sustainable levels.