Lebanon

Outraged bank clients, at least two of them armed, stormed four commercial banks across Lebanon on Tuesday over withdrawal limits that have been imposed throughout the country amid a financial meltdown, Reuters reported. Cases of bank hold-ups have snowballed across Lebanon as residents have grown exasperated over the informal capital controls that banks have imposed since an economic downturn began in 2019.

The International Monetary Fund said on Thursday that a staff mission will visit Lebanon next week to discuss ways to "speed up" implementation of agreed reforms required for an IMF loan program amid deteriorating living conditions in the country, Reuters reported. "We are looking to support Lebanon as strongly as we can. It's a difficult situation," IMF spokesman Gerry Rice told a regular news briefing.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati won the support of more than 50 legislators Thursday to keep his post following last month’s parliamentary elections as the country’s multiple crises deepen with no solution in sight, the Associated Press reported. After a day of binding consultations between President Michel Aoun and parliamentary blocs, Mikati was named by 54 lawmakers while his main rival for the post got less than half that figure. Forty-six legislators abstained from naming anyone.

A leading international credit ratings agency warned Friday that the results of this month’s parliamentary elections in Lebanon make it difficult for any coalition to have a governing majority, potentially complicating implementation of reforms, the Associated Press reported. Shortly after the warning from Fitch Ratings, the Lebanese pound briefly hit new lows against the dollar, causing chaos in markets around the country. Lebanon is in the grips of the worst economic and financial crisis in its modern history.

Lebanon’s currency hit a new low Tuesday as deep divisions within the newly elected parliament raised concerns that political paralysis could further exacerbate one of the worst economic meltdowns in history, the Associated Press reported. The legislature elected May 15 showed no clear majority for any group and a fragmented and polarized parliament divided between pro- and anti-Hezbollah lawmakers. The sides will likely find it difficult to work together to form a new government and enact desperately needed reforms. Among those elected to the 128-member parliament were 13 independents.

Lebanon's government foresees cancelling "a large part" of the Central Bank's foreign currency obligations to commercial banks and dissolving non-viable banks by November, according to a financial recovery plan passed by the cabinet on Friday, Reuters reported. The document, seen by Reuters and verified as accurate by a minister, was passed by cabinet in its final session hours before losing decision-making powers, following the election of a new parliament on May 15.

The Association of Banks in Lebanon said on Saturday it “completely rejects” the government’s latest draft of a financial recovery plan meant to pull the country out of an economic meltdown, Reuters reported. In a statement shared with Reuters, the ABL called the plan “disastrous” and said it would leave banks and depositors shouldering the “major portion” of losses. The government estimates that the financial sector's losses amount to $72 billion.

Lebanon and the International Monetary Fund on Thursday reached a tentative agreement on comprehensive economic policies for the crisis-hit country that could eventually pave the way for some relief, unlocking billions of dollars in loans, the Associated Press reported. The four-year agreement, which is subject to approval by IMF management and executive board, was announced by Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati after a meeting with IMF delegates in Beirut. He said Lebanon promised the IMF that Beirut would implement wide-ranging reforms in the small nation notorious for corruption.

Lebanon may be closer than ever to breaking a two-year deadlock in talks with the International Monetary Fund, a senior official said, a step that could help draw a line under one of the world’s worst financial crises in over a century, Bloomberg News reported. The economy is in the grip of hyperinflation with the currency in freefall after the government defaulted on over $30 billion in international debt.

Authorities in three European countries have frozen more than $130 million in assets linked to an investigation into money laundering in Lebanon, a European Union agency said Monday, the Associated Press reported. The measures taken by officials in France, Germany and Luxembourg come as Lebanon grapples with a devastating economic crisis and coincide with domestic and European investigations of its longtime central bank governor, Riad Salameh.