“Lebanon is set to request a $10 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), to stem the country’s economic crisis, as part of the country’s financial rescue plan.”
Meanwhile, the jihad terror group Hizballah has been gaining power in Lebanon, and holds 10% of parliamentary seats and two key ministry positions, including the Health Ministry.
Protesters have been taking to the streets against “the government’s handling of the unprecedented crisis that saw the collapse of the local currency, devastating their economies and driving up prices and inflation.”
Yet more money in Lebanon from the IMF will mean more money for Hizballah’s jihad terror operations, not necessarily for domestic improvements. Hizballah is a proxy of Iran, “has the strongest military force in Lebanon, with thousands of trained fighters and more than 100,000 rockets and missiles pointed at Israel.”
The Secretary-General of Hizballah, Hassan Nasrallah, put his own conditions on the bailout package, insisting that it must “not breach Lebanese sovereignty.” That is, the money must come with no conditions on how it is used.
The IMF has engaged in expanding Sharia financing, which is heavily connected to jihad terror. The IMF has also been influential in establishing the Islamic Financial Services Board. America “is the largest cumulative contributor to the IMF at $155 billion and the largest voting bloc—holding effective veto power for many decisions.” This is yet another organization that America should make demands of in the interests of defending free society, or else should reassess the terms of its involvement in the IMF, particularly if it opts to bail out Lebanon under Hizballah’s conditions.
Meanwhile, Nasrallah has blasted Germany for its move to ban Hizballah, designate it as a terrorist organization and raid mosques. He threatened that Germany “would not deter Hezbollah from confronting its foes.”
“Coca Cola to end Lebanon operation as Beirut requests $10bn bailout from IMF,” MEMRI, May 1, 2020:
Lebanon is set to request a $10 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), to stem the country’s economic crisis, as part of the country’s financial rescue plan, Prime Minister Hassan Diab said yesterday.
The roadmap includes a reform package and plans to unlock $11 billion in conditional aid donations promised by the international community in 2018, but never unlocked, because successive Lebanese governments failed to implement the necessary reforms.
In a televised address after the meeting, Diab said: “For the first time in history [the government has] a complete and integrated financial plan, which puts an end to floundering financial policies that brought the country to the current state of collapse.”
Adding, “we will ask for a loan program from the International Monetary Fund… and move forward with that.”
The move to seek an aid package from the IMF, however, has come as a surprise for many, after powerful Hezbollah officials strongly warned against the step in February.
Hezbollah opposition to IMF involvement has softened in recent months, after Iran, the militia group’s main backers, requested emergency funding from the organisation.
Secretary-General of Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah, however, has maintained that conditions – a normal feature of IMF bailout packages – must “not breach Lebanese sovereignty”.
Since, however, Lebanon has defaulted on its $1.2 billion Eurobond, and is seeking to restructure more than $90 billion of public debt.
Meanwhile the country’s currency, the lira, has lost more than 50 per cent of its value on the parallel market in recent months, reigniting anti-government protests which started in October….