The International Monetary Fund (IMF) issued a press release after its staff concluded a 10-day mission to Lebanon revealing that Lebanon has attained a staff-level agreement with the IMF over a set of comprehensive economic policies that could be supported by an Extended Fund Arrangement (EFF). In details, the EFF is projected will be spread over 4 years (46 months), providing Lebanon with access to some 2.17 billion in Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), i.e. the equivalent of around $3 billion. Said agreement, however, is subject to the approval of the IMF management and the Executive Board, which in turn hinges on the Lebanese authorities’ timely implementation of a set of pre-agreed on actions. Said actions mainly revolve around five pillars, being the restructuring of the financial sector, ensuring debt sustainability via the implementation of fiscal reforms & the restructuring of external public debt, reforming state-owned enterprises namely EDL, boosting the governance, anti-money laundering/combating the financing of terrorism frameworks, and establishing a credible exchange rate system. In details, Mr. Ramirez Rigo, head of the IMF mission, revealed that the Lebanese authorities have pledged to ratify a set of measures such as cabinet approval of a restructuring strategy for the banking sector that recognizes the losses and protects small depositors along with the parliamentary ratification of such a strategy. Additional terms include the signing of an agreement with a renowned international firm to launch an in-depth evaluation of the largest fourteen banks, the parliamentary approval of an enhanced banking secrecy law to allow for combating corruption, the investigation of financial crimes and to aid in asset recovery. Always in the same vein, the authorities have also agreed on the finalization of the forensic audit of BDL, the approval of the 2022 budget by the parliament and BDL’s unification of the exchange rates. Said crucial steps must also be complemented by a set of other reforms of which we mention the actual implementation of the recently ratified public procurement law, the passage of the competitions law and restructuring pension & retirement schemes. Mr. Rigo commented that the implementation of the aforementioned steps will aid in supporting reforms, recovering growth and financial sustainability and providing more leeway for social and construction spending. He added that the roots of Lebanon’s crisis lie with the adoption of unsustainable macroeconomic policies, the prevalence of an overvalued exchange rate and the lack of structural reforms. Mr. Rigo also added that Lebanon’s deep crisis has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Beirut port explosion and the war in Ukraine that strained food and fuel supplies. The IMF team cited the 2022 budget as a first crucial step towards improving public finances, noting that it targets a primary deficit of 4% of GDP via the adoption of a unified exchange rate for customs and tax considerations. This will ensure extra revenues to increase allowances for public sector employees to revitalize public functioning administration as well as boost social spending while noting that the budget deficit will be externally financed and not by BDL. Mr. Rigo unveiled that BDL will be guided towards reaching the objectives of moving towards a new monetary regime to aid in disinflation and reinforcing foreign currency reserves to allow for a better functioning of the financial sector, better allocation of resources in the economy and the absorption of external shocks. Finally, Mr. Rigo uncovered that the authorities have expressed their strong commitment to the program and its implementation.