Emmanuel Macron and UN's Guterres to co-chair meeting in support of Lebanon

French President Emmanuel Macron and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres will on Wednesday co-chair a videoconference of “support for the Lebanese population,” four months after the devastating explosion in the port of Beirut.

According to the French presidency, heads of state, international organisations, multilateral donors, NGOs and representatives of Lebanese civil society have been invited to the virtual meeting.

The videoconference “aims to take stock of the aid provided by the international community and its distribution methods since the 9 August conference, as well as to take stock of new needs and to work to meet them in the context of crisis in Lebanon.”

The 9 August meeting, which was organised just five days after the explosion in Beirut, raised emergency aid of 250 million euros.

Wednesday's videoconference was organised despite the failure of the Lebanese political class to keep its commitments of forming a new government for launching structural reforms demanded by the international community in exchange for its long-term support.

The meeting comes just two days after a report by the World Bank on how Lebanon's economy is sinking into a deep depression.

The autumn 2020 edition of the Lebanon Economic Monitor predicted the country's economy will contract by 19.2 percent this year and projected a debt-to-GDP ratio of 194 percent next year.

“A year into Lebanon's severe economic crisis, deliberate lack of effective policy action by authorities has subjected the economy to an arduous and prolonged depression,” a World Bank statement said.

“Lack of political consensus on national priorities severely impedes Lebanon's ability to implement long-term and visionary development policies,” Saroj Kumar Jha, World Bank regional director, said. He called for the quick formation of a new government capable of implementing short-term emergency measures and addressing long-term structural challenges.

In addition to a historic depreciation of its currency and hyperinflation, the country is still without a government for more than three months after the resignation of Prime Minister Hassan Diab.

Macron visited Beirut twice after the port blast. On his second visit, he announced having obtained from local political forces the commitment to form a government within 15 days. This promise was not followed through.

On 22 October, former Prime Minister Saad Hariri was appointed to form the government but his efforts have still not borne fruit.