Talks, promises, and no progress—Can Lebanon ever seal a real deal with the IMF?

Report by Bassam Abou Zeid, English adaptation by Karine Keuchkerian

Once again, negotiations and talks are underway between Lebanon and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). What is being said in Beirut is echoed by Lebanese officials in Washington: plenty of promises, few actions, and zero results.

To this day, there is nothing to indicate that Lebanon is ready to reach an agreement with the IMF.

An initial agreement was signed in April 2022, but it remained ink on paper. The IMF demanded clear reforms, while the state still does not seem to understand what the word “reform” even means.

Ironically, reforms are first and foremost the demand of the Lebanese people—before being a demand of the IMF or any other donor.

The IMF called for a transparent economic plan, and Lebanon responded with one—but only on paper.

Under pressure, Lebanese officials were forced to take action, yet even then, they failed to do their job properly. 

The capital control law never saw the light. The banking secrecy law was amended several times. The banking sector restructuring law was born troubled and will have to be amended again. The financial gap law remains a draft, and discussions with the IMF continue, with no clarity yet on how deposits will be returned.

All they are talking about now is $100,000—nothing more. As for the rest, “we will see how to return it.”

As for the meetings with the IMF, what is striking is that Lebanese officials insist the negotiations are “positive,” as if optimism has become the country’s only economic policy.

The truth today is that Lebanon does not meet the IMF’s conditions—not because it cannot, but because it does not want to change a system that thrives on chaos and benefits from collapse.

It seems the IMF is still waiting for a functioning state, while the state is still waiting for a miracle.