- The Lebanese authorities have managed to maintain a measure of macroeconomic stability despite the exceptionally difficult circumstances and the heavy toll that the Hezbollah-Israel conflict and regional security developments have taken on the economy and living conditions.
- The recent approval of amendments to the Bank Resolution Law marks a significant step forward in advancing the banking sector restructuring strategy. Completing the sector’s reform agenda now requires continued work towards aligning the Financial Stabilization and Deposits Recovery Law with international standards to maximize depositor protection while ensuring consistency with fiscal and financial sustainability.
- Sustained fiscal discipline and adopting a credible medium-term fiscal framework are critical to lay the foundations for restoring fiscal and debt sustainability, while creating space for essential spending on reconstruction and social protection.
Beirut, Lebanon: An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission, led by Ernesto Ramirez Rigo, visited Beirut, Lebanon, from September 15 to 18, 2026, to discuss the macroeconomic outlook as well as progress on key economic and financial reforms.
At the conclusion of the visit, Mr. Ramirez Rigo made the following statement:
“The Hezbollah-Israel conflict and regional security developments have once again taken a heavy toll on the Lebanese economy and living conditions. Activity is expected to contract significantly in 2026, inflation remains in double digits, and the current account deficit has widened driven mainly by rising energy costs. There is extensive damage to infrastructure and housing, large-scale internal displacements, and significant deterioration in living standards for the internally displaced people. Against this very challenging backdrop, the mission commends the authorities for preserving a measure of stability, including by maintaining cautious fiscal and monetary policies.
“The mission welcomes progress made on budget management since the last staff visit, which represents an important step toward a more sustainable fiscal position. In addition, staff welcomes the approval of amendments to the Bank Resolution Law (BRL), which align Lebanon’s framework with international best practices, and provide an effective and orderly resolution and liquidation framework which will serve well in addressing the banking sector crisis.
“Building on this progress as well as on extensive engagement in recent months, discussions with the authorities focused on the amendments needed to align the Financial Stabilization and Deposits Recovery Law (FSDR) with international standards. In particular, staff reiterated the importance of ensuring that the hierarchy of claims is respected and no depositors absorb losses before shareholders and junior creditors, and that a sound and sustainable banking sector emerges from the restructuring process that safeguards fiscal and financial sustainability. In this respect, efforts should focus on aligning the draft law with international principles and make the repayment proposal consistent with banking sector viability and public debt sustainability.
read more: https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2026/09/18/pr26297-lebanon-imf-staff-concludes-visit-to-lebanon
