US will give $ 80.5 million to Lebanon amid economic crisis

USAID Administrator Samantha Power announced while in Lebanon, to travel to Egypt for the COP27 United Nations Climate Conference.

To secure a $3 billion aid package from the International Monetary Fund, Power will work with Lebanese political leaders to urge them to break the country’s political deadlock and implement a number of political and economic reforms.

takes place as the journey Lebanon Is experiencing its worst financial and economic crisis in modern times. President Michel Aoun’s six-year term ended on October 31 without a successor being elected.

Power opted not to comment on whether receiving aid from the United States would depend on Lebanon taking these actions.

“We are not focused on what will happen if those reforms don’t happen. Reforms have to happen,” she told the Associated Press.

The prospect of an IMF deal, Power said, “should be enough to end the infighting and discord and to do what is necessary for the country.”

So far, USAID has given Lebanon about $260 million in 2022. On Wednesday, Power announced an additional $72 million as part of a $2 billion global food security initiative for food assistance to nearly 650,000 people over the course of five months.

After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, LebanonWhich relies heavily on imported food and historically imports most of its wheat from Russia and Ukraine, has experienced increased concerns about its ability to eat.

POWER also disclosed $8.5 million to support 22 new pumping stations powered by solar power. The catastrophic power crisis that Lebanon is facing has also resulted in water shortages as pumping stations lack electricity.

The lack of public water supplies has caused a cholera outbreak in Lebanon for the first time in thirty years. Most of Lebanon’s people now depend on water that is brought in by private suppliers; This water is not often safety tested.

(with inputs from AP)