IMF chief says Lebanon hasn't implemented prior actions for financing programme

WASHINGTON, Oct 13 (Reuters) - International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva on Thursday said talks with Lebanon remain stuck as the country's officials haven't yet implemented the prior actions needed to receive an IMF financing programme.

"There is still this paralysis and it can only be resolved by the political leaders in Lebanon putting aside what divides them and getting to a point of serving the people of Lebanon who deserve no less," Georgieva said during a press conference in Washington.

Prior actions are measures that need to be implemented before the executive board approves an IMF-supported programme, according to its website.

The IMF last month said progress in implementing reforms remained very slow, specifically the implementation of those reforms agreed to with the IMF in April.

The Fund reached a draft funding agreement with Lebanon that requires reforms from Beirut before its board decided whether to approve the deal. The staff-level agreement covers a 46-month extended fund facility under which Lebanon has requested access to the equivalent of around $3 billion.

An IMF deal is widely seen as vital for Lebanon to begin recovery from an economic meltdown that has devastated the country since 2019, locking savers out of their deposits, sinking the currency, and causing poverty to soar, in the country's worst crisis since its 1975-90 civil war.

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