Defense Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, Zeina Akar, is certainly stepping up to force actions towards stopping the country’s collapse.
After her remarkable stand at shaking things off in the cabinet for immediate solutions, she’s now directing her sharp criticism to another major player that has been stalling: The International Monetary Fund (IMF).
She boldly accused the IMF on Wednesday to scale its decision of support for Lebanon based on political considerations rather than on reforms, as reported by LBCI.
While she went off earlier on the government for “standing in front of a dead wall,” without budging, she’s now also blaming the IMF.
“The IMF has decided not to open up to our government even if it announces readiness to offer great support when structural reforms are achieved,” she stated.
She reiterated her firm opinion that the Lebanese government can move out of the stagnant position it has found itself in, and work seriously and quickly on the structural reforms, without wasting more time.
She stressed her strong belief that Lebanon can make it and, as she emphasized, the state mustn’t wait for foreign aid to start reforming.
Minister Akar’s active intervention comes at a time when two Lebanese-IMF negotiators resigned, after several negotiation sessions with the IMF. They blamed the Lebanese government’s unwillingness to reform.
From their side, IMF officials are reportedly concerned about whether the Lebanese government is serious about making changes and implementing reforms.
A matter that is still to be seen on the ground as the country continues its fast collapsing trajectory.
Moreover, according to Xinhuanet News, France has also “expressed concern over the deepening economic and financial crisis in Lebanon, urging the government to implement necessary reforms.”
Meanwhile, the entire Lebanese nation awaits salvation as its edges a dangerous level of hunger unseen in Lebanon’s history since The Great Famine of 1915–1918.
