BEIRUT: The Lebanese pound slightly dropped against the dollar Thursday, trading at around LL8,100 on the black market as foreign countries vowed to continue supporting Lebanon with humanitarian aid but not with financial assistance.

Black market exchangers were selling the pound for LL8,150 and buying it for around LL8,050. The pound has been slightly retreating against the dollar, ever since reports emerged of more complications within the Cabinet formation process, trading at an average of LL8,050 Wednesday.

France and the United Nations hosted a video-conference Wednesday, the second since the Beirut Port explosion, during which international actors vowed to continue to support humanitarian relief for Lebanon.

However France urged Lebanons politicians to speed up the deadlocked government formation process, which is standing in the way of billions of dollars in financial assistance that will only be unlocked once a new Cabinet implements long-overdue reforms.

During the first conference in August, world leaders and international organizations pledged around $300 million in emergency humanitarian aid following the explosion; however it was made clear that no funds for reconstruction would flow in unless Lebanon enacted reforms in public institutions and the banking sector.

International Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva also said that the organization was committed to helping Lebanon implement the reforms but said that the country needed a coherent fiscal framework and credible strategy to rehabilitate its banking sector.

As the Cabinet formation process remains stalled despite French and international pressure for a swift formation, French President Emmanuel Macron is set to visit Lebanon for the third time in five months to follow up on the situation.

With no government, no reforms can be enacted and with no reforms no financial aid can be unlocked, meaning Lebanons economic collapse will persist as poverty levels rise, inflation rates sky-rocket and mass emigration continues.

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