The World Bank said in a statement that it “would be also willing to reprogram existing resources and explore additional financing to support rebuilding lives and livelihoods of people impacted by this disaster.”The Bank did not indicate which resources could be diverted to a blast recovery effort. In June, the multilateral development lender announced that it would reallocate $40 million from an existing $120 million health program for Lebanon to help the country fight the coronavirus pandemic. Scott Morris, a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development, said that donor support for Lebanon in the wake of the disaster would likely be strong. “Lebanon's macro and debt situation will add to the overall urgency for international support,” said Morris, a former U.S. Treasury international development official. “That said, it is highly unlikely that donor responses would serve as an alternative to reaching agreement with the IMF on a bailout.”

Source: The Hindu August 05, 2020 22:52 UTC