“Akhbar al-Yawm” agency

Did it act with arrogance so that the rejection would come from the Lebanese side?

A number of officials are following the IMF delegation's ongoing tour to Lebanon amid shock at its actions and demands that exceed the capacity of the Lebanese, without paying attention to their suffering.

One of the officials concerned stopped, in an interview to the "Akhbar al-Yawm" agency at more than one point in the requests of the IMF delegation, most notably their insistence that the exchange rate in the budget should be equal to the exchange rate on the black market, meaning that the budget should be based on the dollar rate close to 40 thousand Lebanese pounds, and this will reflect a catastrophic rise in prices and inevitably lead to an unprecedented social explosion.

He said: the worst thing is that the IMF delegation finds itself not interested in justifying its requests, but rather deals with this visit with the logic of dictation, imposing harsh conditions and insisting on breaking the Lebanese financially, economically and socially, as if it insists on "leaving" the markets on their own, which leads to an unprecedented chaos without providing any guarantees or reassuring answers to Lebanese officials.

He added that the delegation sought to secure guarantees to restore the 3 billion dollars in case the IMF gave it to Lebanon, even on the expense of the Lebanese, without offering any solution or demanding any structural reforms, but only demanding the liberalization of markets, the exchange rate and other demands that lead to the breaking of the Lebanese socially.

The same official stressed that when he asked the IMF delegation about the guarantees to obtain the required financing after the Saudi and Gulf positions, the delegation members stressed that the IMF is not concerned with giving guarantees and that securing financing is the responsibility of the Lebanese government and the IMF can try to help but does not give any guarantees, which means according to the Lebanese official, the IMF cannot guarantee even giving the 3 billion dollars, if the Arab reluctance to help continues, so why should Lebanon acquiesce to the IMF's disastrous conditions and demands in the absence of any guarantees?

The official said that a number of countries refused to submit to the IMF's demands and protected themselves and their society, and therefore Lebanon should be careful.

The Lebanese official concluded, saying: this visit of the IMF delegation is the worst among all previous visits. This negativity is due to the certainty of the IMF management that it is impossible to help Lebanon in light of the Gulf position by refusing to provide funds, and this is what prompted the IMF delegation to deal with arrogance so that the refuse of the agreement would come from the Lebanese side.