The International Monetary Fund issued an official statement on its website announcing that its mission, led by Ernesto Ramírez Rigo, visited Beirut from February 10 to 13, 2026, to follow up on the progress made in implementing basic economic and financial reforms.
At the conclusion of the visit, Rigo stated that the mission held fruitful talks with Lebanese officials about legislation that supports the banking sector restructuring plan, in addition to the medium-term financial framework that is being prepared.
He explained that the draft “Financial Stability and Restoration of Depositors’ Rights (FSDR)” law, which was recently approved by the Council of Ministers, is considered a necessary first step towards reforming the banking sector and enabling depositors to gradually recover their deposits.
Discussions focused on the necessary improvements to make the draft law compatible with international standards, including respecting the sequence of claims, not bearing any losses on depositors before shareholders or creditors with lower priority, in addition to rebuilding a sustainable banking system that serves current and future generations. In this context, he stressed the importance of the restructuring strategy being compatible with available liquidity to provide the necessary resources for the gradual release of deposits, and to ensure that state contributions do not negatively affect efforts to restore the sustainability of public debt.
Fund experts also praised the efforts made to limit cash transactions, considering that these efforts will be strengthened with the restoration of confidence in the banking system after the implementation of restructuring.
Rigo added that the talks also addressed amendments to the “Banking Remediation Law (BRL)” with the aim of strengthening an independent, transparent and effective process to address banking conditions in line with international standards, expressing his hope that Parliament will be able to discuss and approve these amendments in the coming months.
He pointed out that the authorities are working to prepare a medium-term financial framework, because of its important role in supporting the bank restructuring strategy, and paving the way for restructuring sovereign debt with the aim of restoring its sustainability, expanding the necessary social and investment spending, and rebuilding institutional capabilities.
Fund experts stressed the need for any new spending commitments, including potential increases in public sector salaries and pensions, to be consistent with this framework and supported by efforts to increase revenues in order to maintain macroeconomic stability. In this regard, although improving tax collection was welcomed, they believed that tax policy measures would remain necessary to increase revenues in the medium term, considering the adoption of a modern and more effective income tax law to be an important first step.
Rigo concluded by stressing that discussions are still ongoing, stressing the Fund’s commitment to supporting the Lebanese authorities in designing and implementing a comprehensive economic and financial reform program, expressing his thanks to the authorities for their cooperation and constructive participation.
