BEIRUT: An International Monetary Fund mission to Lebanon said it hoped Parliament would approve the draft 2019 state budget as soon as possible, the Lebanese Finance Ministry said in a statement.

The head of the IMF mission, Chris Jarvis, hoped Parliament would as soon as possible approve the budget in which work happened to reduce the deficit to 7.6 percent [of GDP], which will help release funds that Lebanon needs from the CEDRE conference, the Finance Ministry statement said.

Donor states and institutions pledged some $11 billion in financing at the CEDRE conference in Paris last year, conditional on the country undertaking long-delayed reforms.

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