BEIRUT: The International Monetary fund will give $860 million to Lebanon over the coming two months, a statement from the presidents office said Wednesday, in a boost for the cash-strapped government as the economic crisis brings misery to the country.

President Michel Aoun Wednesday morning met with the Lebanon director of the IMF, Mahmoud Mohieldin, to discuss the IMFs financial support to Lebanon along with an economic recovery plan.

Mohieldin informed President Aoun that the International Monetary Fund would allocate to Lebanon the equivalent of $860 million, the statement said. The pay package comes within a wider IMF program "Special Drawing Rights" which will see a total of $650 billion distributed among 190 member states during the next two months.

The news will be met with relief from government officials who have been desperately turning to foreign donors for financial support as Lebanons economic crisis rages on and diminishes state finances, with no solution in sight.

Ghazi Wazni, caretaker finance minister, told The Daily Star in June that the IMF funds were going to be checked by a board of governors before distribution. Wazni also said that the money would be channeled to the Central Bank to boost its foreign currency reserves with the aim of improving the countrys economic recovery, "and not to subsidize basic items."

Aoun thanked Mohieldin for the funds keenness to provide assistance to Lebanon in several areas to revitalize the economy by updating the financial recovery plan in light of the developments that occurred after the explosion of the port of Beirut.

During the meeting, Aoun also said that Lebanon would implement an economic recovery plan after the formation of a new government. According to the statement, the plan includes legislative reforms that achieve transparency, in addition to adopting a fair and equitable distribution of losses, with the aim of restoring the national economy.

This is the first time Aoun has mentioned an economic recovery plan, something that is desperately needed to cushion the impact of the countrys deep fiscal problems, which has caused unprecedented inflation levels leaving citizens struggling to afford basic food items and plummeting the value of the local currency.

However, Lebanons government has been operating in a caretaker capacity for the last 11 months and as such is unable to negotiate for further financial support from the IMF and other international donors, according to Wazni.

A new government, headed by Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri, has yet to be formed as talks between Aoun and Hariri over Cabinet formation have stalled, throwing the country into a state of political paralysis and accelerating economic collapse.

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