The Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) approved a $15 million three-year loan for member state Lebanon, intended to finance the country’s balance of payments for the fiscal year 2001. Lebanon has been granted two similar AMF loans in the past through the Arab Trade Finance Program in support of the country’s ailing economy and its financial restructuring programs, reported the Daily Star.
The AMF committed itself to provide Lebanon with $100 million at the Paris II meeting last month. Eighteen countries and financial institutions from Europe, North America, the Middle East and Asia concluded in Paris to provide Lebanon with $4.3 billion aid.
The international effort sought to reschedule Lebanon's $31 billion foreign debt burden—equivalent to nearly 180 percent of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP)—and scale it back to affordable levels.
The AMF is an intergovernmental institution established in 1976. The regional Arab financial institution is composed of all members of the League of Arab States, except the Comoros. The headquarters of the AMF are in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE).
AMF aims to promote the integration of Arab economies, the development of Arab Capital Markets and the unification of Arab currencies. THe AMF also seeks to correct disequilibria in the balance of payments of member states by providing loans and to establish policies of monetary cooperation and coordinate the positions of member states in dealing with international financial and economic problems.
Arab Monetary Fund Head Office is located in the city of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE). — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
