UPDATE- Millions pledged in support of Lebanese economy

UPDATES WITH PRESIDENT EMMANUEL MACRON’S STATEMENT TO PRESS

By Hajer M'tiri

PARIS (AA) - Ministers and investors from around the world on Friday met in the French capital to raise billions of dollars in aid and development loans to finance Lebanon's economy and infrastructure, weakened by years of institutional and regional crisis.

The investment summit, called the Economic Conference for Development through Reforms and with Business (CEDRE), is being attended by 41 countries and well as international organizations and private sector representatives.

In his opening speech to the summit, Lebanon's prime minister, Saad Hariri, said his "little country" is "facing enormous political, economic and security challenges, and these challenges are exacerbated by the war in Syria and the crisis of displaced Syrians in Lebanon."

"It is not the stability of Lebanon alone. This is the stability of the region and, therefore, of our world," Hariri said.

France was the first country to make a bid, with Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian announcing that Europe's second-largest economy would provide €400 million ($489.3 million) in loans below market rates and would donate another €150 million ($183.5 million).

"In a Middle East shaken by crises and battered by civil wars, Lebanon remains a model of pluralism, tolerance and openness that we need," Le Drian said. "But Lebanon is not an island."

"Today, we will take concrete and substantial measures. Again, these are reciprocal commitments: international support must accompany the reforms that the prime minister will lay out before you."

With one of the highest levels of state debt in the world, Lebanon is seeking about $16 billion in concessional loans and grants to finance development projects over the next five years.

The Lebanese parliament last week passed a 2018 government budget, projecting a deficit of $4.8 billion -- more than double the deficit in 2011, when Syria's civil war started.

At the end of the summit, donors committed to $10.2 billion in loans and $860 million in gifts, according to France’s president.

"This day of work has been productive... in total the conference has enabled us to line up a little more than 11 billion [dollars] in commitments," Macron said in closing remarks alongside Hariri.

"It is important to continue reforms in the coming months," Macron said, telling the Lebanese premier: "We'll be by your side."

The Paris meeting is one of a series of three to secure international support for the recovery of Lebanon's economy.

At the March 15 Rome II conference, the Mediterranean country of just over 6 million inhabitants received $550 million in loan pledges from 40 countries to boost its army and security sector.

A third conference, set for later this spring in Brussels, will focus on the country's program to host a million Syrian refugees.