Thursday 23rd January, 2020
Accra, Jan. 23, (UPI/GNA) – Lebanon’s new
Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni said Wednesday he is looking for up to $5 billion
in soft loans to purchase wheat, medicine and fuel.
The former defense minister said the loans
are among his top priorities since taking over the post.
Lebanon asked for foreign assistance in
December but was rejected pending reforms and the formation of the government.
Prime Minister Hassan Diab formed Lebanon’s new government on Tuesday.
“The economic, financial and monetary
situation is very difficult,” Wanzi said. “There is a lot of pressure
on the whole government to convince both the uprising in the interior and
foreign donors of the reform program it will put forward to rescue the
country.”
Persistent protests in Lebanon led its
economy to fall toward the end of 2019. The protest led to the resignation of
former Prime Minister Saad Hariri and his cabinet. That administration was
accused of large-scale corruption.
The new government currently has the support
of the majority Shia groups Hezbollah, the Amal Movement and the Christian Free
Patriotic Movement. Critics have warned that the presence of Iran-backed
Hezbollah, which opposes Israel, could lead to the government’s rejection by
the West.
Lebanon has struggled to service its current
debt because of its shrinking foreign currency reserves.
GNA