Lebanon hopes for new staff-level agreement with IMF

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Lebanon hopes to reach a new staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund, Finance Minister Yassine Jaber said. A full IMF program would still require Beirut to pass a final law addressing losses from the country's financial crisis, following years of delayed reforms after the 2022 preliminary agreement.

BEIRUT, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Lebanon hopes for a new staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund, Finance MinisterYassine Jaberhas said, adding that a full IMF program still required Beirut to pass a final law to address losses from its financial crisis. Lebanon first signed a staff-level agreement with the IMF in April 2022, more than two years after its financial system imploded following decades of profligate spending and corruption in theruling elite. But it was slow to implement the promised changes.