Yassin Jaber follows up on the file of existing loans with the World Bank

Finance Minister Yassin Jaber participated in the opening session of the 2026 joint annual meetings of Arab financial institutions, held virtually after the originally scheduled in-person meetings in Abu Dhabi were replaced.

Lebanon will participate in the joint sessions through Director General of Public Finance George Maarawi, whose interventions will focus on the exceptional situation Lebanon is going through, where the financial crisis has been accompanied by the repercussions of the war due to the Israeli attacks, which have had a direct impact on the economy and public finances, as well as on the state's ability to meet its needs.

Lebanon will affirm its commitment to the reform path through intensive work on building the foundations of public finance via structural reforms focused on enhancing public revenues by improving tax compliance, modernizing tax administration, and developing systems towards integrated digital systems, alongside improving cash and public debt management, and enhancing transparency and accountability in the management of public resources.

In addition, Minister Jaber received the President of the Lebanese University, Bassam Badran, where a comprehensive overview of the conditions of the Lebanese University was presented.

Jaber also met with the head of the World Bank office in Lebanon, Enrico Armas, and held a working meeting with him during which the steps agreed upon in Jaber's talks in Washington on the sidelines of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund spring meetings were continued, particularly regarding the mechanisms to be adopted to address crises by redirecting some of the existing loans with the World Bank towards urgent priorities, in order to improve the capacity to respond to the damages resulting from the war and displacement.