Aoun tells al-Rahi govt. committed to implement IMF-required laws

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi met Friday with President Michel Aoun who assured him that the government is ready to submit the IMF-required draft laws to Parliament.

Al-Rahi urged the Lebanese for a heavy turnout in the upcoming parliamentary elections, adding that "voting is a duty."

"It's in the ballot boxes that change happens," al-Rahi said.

The IMF had announced Thursday that it had reached a staff-level agreement to provide Lebanon with $3 billion in aid to help it emerge from its severe economic crisis.

The aid would be released under the global lender's Extended Fund Facility but only after the parliament in Beirut approves a 2022 budget and a new bank secrecy law to fight corruption.

It also will require cabinet approval of a debt restructuring plan.

Ernesto Ramirez Rigo, who led the IMF mission to Lebanon said that the Lebanese officials have expressed their strong commitment "to carry out this reform program and sustain decisive implementation during the upcoming parliamentary and Presidential elections."