The $836 million that Lebanon is set to receive from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will be invested into the hospital sector, caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hassan said on Sunday.
IMF Executive Director Mahmoud Mohieldin had revealed in July that Lebanon would receive the sum out of a $650-billion program to be distributed to 190 countries in two months.
Hassan said during an interview with Al-Jadeed that the funds are coming in under the umbrella of compensation for the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
“I am saying: $836 million are coming as compensation for the coronavirus pandemic. The coronavirus pandemic starts with the hospital sector,” he stated.
The money will go into supporting hospitals by supplying them with oxygen and fuel and equipping them sufficiently to prepare them for the next wave of infections, on one hand, and paying the amounts due to importers of medical equipment and other hospital supplies, on the other hand, according to Hassan.
In light of that, the official urged the Central Bank of Lebanon to give this matter a high level of seriousness, in terms of granting the necessary approvals for payments related to the healthcare sector.
