Lebanese Deputy Prime Minister HE Al-Shami said on Tuesday that Lebanon’s maritime agreement with Israel “does not in any way diminish” the need for immediate financial reforms.
Al-Shami headed a Lebanese delegation in Washington, DC, last week to attend the annual meetings for the IMF and the World Bank.
Since the beginning of June, developments related to the file have accelerated demarcation of the maritime boundary Between Lebanon and Israel, following a months-long hiatus due to disputes over the disputed area.
After meetings and shuttle contacts between the two parties, the American mediator, Amos Hochstein, recently presented his latest offer, which was approved by both sides.
Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid announced that a “historic” agreement had been reached to demarcate the maritime border with Lebanon.
The Presidency of the Lebanese Republic considered that the final version of the American offer was “satisfactory to Lebanon and preserved Lebanon’s rights to its natural wealth.”
The Lebanese authorities are counting on the presence of natural resources that would help the country to overcome the catastrophic repercussions of the economic collapse that the country has been witnessing for three years, and the World Bank has ranked it among the worst in the world since 1850. More than 80 percent of the Lebanese are below the poverty line, The Lebanese pound has lost more than 90 percent of its value once morest the dollar.
