The World Bank (WB) said on Tuesday it had approved $350 million in new financing for Lebanon, aimed at helping the country’s "poor and vulnerable" while modernizing public services through digital transformation. The funding, split into two loans, comes as Lebanon struggles to recover from a deep socio-economic crisis that began in 2019.  "Lebanon is witnessing a fragile recovery. The World Bank’s new financing package is designed to deliver broad, high-impact benefits across society by advancing social protection, economic inclusion, and digital transformation," said Jean-Christophe Carret, WB Division Director, Middle East Department. "These efforts will strengthen Lebanon’s economic recovery, job creation, and the country’s ability to deliver high-impact public services to all its citizens," he added.  In its statement, the WB highlighted that Lebanon’s "multidimensional crises have severely exacerbated preexisting economic and social challenges, pushing many into poverty and exposing households to severe food insecurity, poor nutrition and limited access to healthcare, with significant consequences to human capital."  WB explained that the financing covers two new projects designed to "positively impact people’s lives by providing social protection to the poor, promoting economic inclusion for women, youth and vulnerable groups, strengthening social protection delivery systems, and accelerating the digitalization of key public services."  Under the first loan, $200 million will go to the Social Safety Net Strengthening and Building Systems (ESSN) Project, the fourth World Bank-backed financing for the program. WB detailed that the project aims to bolster Lebanon’s social protection delivery system, including the DAEM platform used by the AMAN aid program, transforming it into a comprehensive social registry to support other public programs.  The remaining $150 million will fund the Digital Acceleration Project, which aims to enhance citizen access to essential government services, improve the digital environment for businesses, develop state capabilities in digital platforms, data management and cybersecurity, as well as pilot digital public services with high potential for transparency and efficiency.  The loans still require approval by Lebanon’s Cabinet and Parliament before disbursement.  In December, WB had temporarily suspended discussions on new social project loans, including one linked to the ESSN program, after Parliament delayed approval of other previously allocated loans. ESSN is a program through which the WB has been financing aid to the most vulnerable in Lebanon since the early years of the crisis that erupted in 2019.  At the time, press reports said two loans worth $300 million for the ministries of Social Affairs and Administrative Development were postponed. Finance Minister Yassin Jaber warned that Lebanon risked losing these and other pending loans without parliamentary approval.  Parliament eventually approved three previous WB loans in mid-December: $250 million for reconstruction of southern Lebanon’s infrastructure damaged in the 2024 war with Israel; $257.8 million to improve water supply in Greater Beirut and Mount Lebanon; and $34 million for a budget management project. (ICE BEIRUT)

Fonte notizia: L'Orient Today