Michel Aoun’s estimates regarding recovery from the crisis are not optimistic, while Lebanon has witnessed, since the summer of 2019, an accelerating economic collapse, exacerbated by the horrific explosion of the Port of Beirut on August 4, 2020, and measures to confront the Corona virus.
In March 2020, the state failed to pay its foreign debts, and then began negotiations with the International Monetary Fund on a recovery plan that was later suspended, due to differences between the Lebanese negotiators.
The exchange rate of the Lebanese pound against the dollar gradually declined until the currency lost more than 85 percent of its value.
About 80 percent of the population is living below the poverty line, and the unemployment rate has risen, while the international community requires the authorities to implement urgent reforms, so that the country receives the necessary financial support to get it out of the spiral of collapse.
During his visit to Lebanon, Guterres will meet with the country’s leaders, led by Aoun and Prime Minister Najib Mikati, in addition to a number of leaders and representatives of civil society.
During the visit, which will continue until Wednesday, Guterres will honor the memory of the victims of the port explosion, as well as inspecting the United Nations Interim Force (UNIFIL) in southern Lebanon.
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