Lebanon Seeks Financial Aid to Cover Basic Imports

The office of Lebanese caretaker prime minister Saad al-Hariri issued a statement on Friday saying it had turned to the country’s closest allies for assistance in covering the costs of importing basic foods and raw materials. Lebanon is suffering from a growing shortage of foreign currency reserves owing to a staggering foreign debt, which is just one focus of ongoing anti-government protests that have paralyzed the country off and on since mid-October. Hariri tendered his and his government’s resignation on October 29, and President Michel Aoun has been having difficulty settling on a candidate to establish a replacement government. For its part, France said on Friday that it would host a December 11 meeting in Paris to mobilize donor countries to help lift Lebanon from its financial abyss.