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IMF envoy meets Lebanon PM, parliament reconvenes

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati met on Tuesday with members of an International Monetary Fund delegation.

The delegation was headed by Ernesto Ramirez-Rigo, the International Monetary Fund's head of mission for Pakistan, Middle East and Central Asia.

The IMF resumed talks after the new Lebanese government was formed in September as the country works to pull itself out of one of the world's worst economic crises.

The two sides spoke on economic reforms and a possible bail-out from the IMF.

In early March 2020, Lebanon failed to pay back $1.2 billion in loans, marking its first-ever default.

Since the crisis began in October 2019, Lebanon's currency has lost more than 90% of its value and more than 70% of residents in Lebanon now live in poverty.

The World Bank said in June that Lebanon's severe economic and financial crisis is likely to rank as one of the worst the world has seen in more than 150 years.

Also on Tuesday, the Lebanese parliament convened for the first time since Lebanon was embroiled in a diplomatic crisis with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations more than a month ago.

The crisis started after televised comments by former Lebanese Minister of Information George Kordahi in which he had described the war in Yemen as an aggression by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Disagreements between political parties over the diplomatic crisis with the Gulf and over the investigation into last year's massive blast in Beirut's port had delayed the parliament session.

Parliament on Tuesday voted on bills including amending a draft law of an agreement with the World Bank to financially support poor families in Lebanon.

The move came after parliament approved in March a $246 million loan from the World Bank that would provide assistance for more than 160,000 families.

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