BEIRUT (Reuters) -The International Monetary Fund said on Friday that Lebanon should improve a bank restructuring law it has already passed to bring it in line with international standards and consider tax reforms to spark public spending on reconstruction efforts.
The statement came at the end of the IMF’s mission to Lebanon, whose leaders have promised to prioritise economic reforms six years after a financial crash collapsed the economy and left depositors locked out of their savings.
“The recent approval of the Bank Resolution Law reflects the dedicated efforts of all stakeholders, though the legislation needs further refinement,” IMF mission chief Ernesto Ramirez Rigo said in a statement.
Rigo said the IMF had suggested amendments to the Lebanese government to protect small depositors and ensure the sustainability of public debt.
Reuters reported this week that the IMF was concerned that the law did not include adequate buffers against conflicts of interest and granted commercial banks leeway in some areas.
The IMF also said on Friday it “expected a more ambitious approach to the 2026 government budget” and urged the Lebanese government to consider tax policy reforms to prioritise spending on reconstruction and social protection.
Observers worry that despite Lebanon’s pledges to reform, policymakers are failing to protect the country’s most vulnerable, already hit hard by years of financial instability and last year’s devastating war between Israel and the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.
(Reporting by Maya Gebeily;Editing by Alison Williams and Joe Bavier)
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