Cash-strapped Lebanon appeals for Arab support

By Naim Berjawi

BEIRUT, Lebanon (AA) – Lebanese Minister of Economy Amin Salam on Sunday called for Arab support to cash-strapped Lebanon amid a crippling economic crisis.

"Lebanon is groaning under a series of crises that have cascaded over the past decade, and it is still, to date, in a dead end. It requires your support in the first place,” Salam said at a conference on Jerusalem at the headquarters of the Cairo-based Arab League.

“Lebanon also launched an appeal to its Arab brothers to extend a helping hand to it, in light of an unprecedented economic and financial crisis in its history,” he said, calling on the Arab countries to overcome differences.

"Lebanon especially feels this suffering, and it has not yet recovered from the effects of the August 4, 2020 explosion that destroyed half of the city of Beirut."

Since 2019, Lebanon has been plagued by a crippling economic crisis that, according to the World Bank, is one of the worst the world has seen in modern times.

* Ikram Imane Kouachi contributed to this report