Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Southgate and Wood Green)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment the Government has made of the economic situation in Lebanon.
Answered by Gillian Keegan
Lebanon is experiencing a severe economic crisis. The Lebanese government must deliver economic reforms as the only way to rebuild the confidence of the international community and set the country on a more sustainable path to long-term economic stability. The economic crisis has been exacerbated by COVID-19, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and the aftermath of the Beirut port explosion of August 2020.
This crisis has had a severe impact, in particular on healthcare provision and poverty rates in the country, for both Lebanese citizens and the vulnerable refugee populations. The UK and members of the UN-led International Support Group for Lebanon are clear that Lebanon's leaders need to implement credible economic reforms as the only sustainable way to address this crisis and alleviate the suffering of the Lebanese people.