In our Virtual Visit to Lebanon (April 27-28), key senior government officials, former IMF directors, World Bank representatives, and private sector experts discussed the dire situation in Lebanon and prospects for 2023 and 2024. Some of the key issues to discusseded were: (i) why have the authorities not made any progress in implementing the urgent structural reforms needed to put the economy on a path to recovery; (ii) how badly have the authorities mismanaged the crisis; (iii) could the chances of implementing the IMF’s prior actions improve if a new president is elected and a new cabinet is formed in the next few months; and (iv) are there any other alternatives to an IMF supported economic program to arrest further deterioration in the economy.
About 20 minutes was allocated to each speaker, followed by Q&A session that was be moderated by Dr. Garbis Iradian (Chief Economist for MENA and Central Asia, IIF). We also solicited additional questions from the audience whenever possible. As indicated in the schedule below, we had top level speakers, including the deputy PM, deputy Governor, a former IMF director, a representative from the World Bank, and three MENA Chief Economists/Head of MENA Economic Research from major financial institutions.
If you have any questions, please contact ([email protected]) and Ivan Burgara ([email protected]) at your earliest convenience.
Schedule
All times are in Washington, DC time (UTC-5:00)
For participants based in London, add 5 hours to the times posted below
For participants based in Lebanon, add 7 hours
April 27:
9:00am Saade Chami, Deputy Prime Minister, Lebanon
9:30am Saleh Nsouli, Former IMF Director, USA
10:30am Garbis Iradian, Chief MENA Economist, IIF, USA
11:00am Farouk Soussa, Head of MENA Economic Research, Goldman Sachs, USA
11:45am Alia Moubayed, Head of MENA Economic Research, Jefferies Financial Group, UK
April 28:
9:00am Salim Chahine, Vice Governor of Central Bank of Lebanon
10:00am Saad Azhari, CEO, Blom Bank, Lebanon
10:30am Michel Accad, CEO, Bank Med, Lebanon
11:15am Nassib Ghobril, Chief Economist, Byblos Bank, Lebanon
11:45am Munir Rached, President of the Lebanese Economic Association, Lebanon
2:00pm World Bank MENA Regional Director, to be confirmed.