France’s Macron says no money without reforms in Lebanon

French President Emmanuel Macron at the Official residence of the French Embassy building in Beirut, Lebanon on August 06, 2020 [Lebanese Presidency/Handout/Anadolu Agency]

French President Emmanuel Macron said yesterday that funds pledged to support Lebanon at the Paris 2018 conference will not be released unless reforms are implemented.

“There is no blank cheque,” Macron told a news conference in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, adding that “if reforms, including an audit of the central bank, were not being passed within that deadline, international aid would be withheld.”

He added that France is willing to host a new international support conference for Lebanon next month in cooperation with the United Nations.

Macron said the Lebanese political leaders had agreed to form a government of experts over the next two weeks.

READ: France sends reform roadmap to Lebanon

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