a total of thirty seven people including 23 children were killed in an attack that has shocked the nation. those are the headlines. now on bbc news it s time for hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i m stephen sackur. lebanon is experiencing one of the most disastrous economic collapses of the last 100 years. the national economy is less than half the size it was just three years ago. one powerful symbol of the catastrophe, people are holding up banks in a desperate attempt to get their money out, amid rampant inflation and a currency crisis. my guest is lebanon s minister of economy and trade, amin salam. politicians have failed lebanon for decades. will that change before the meltdown is complete? minister amin salam, currently in washington, dc, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. thank you, stephen, glad to be with you. well, we re delighted to have you in our washington studio. let me ask you, minister, do you think you and your government are levelling with the lebanese peop
in a desperate attempt to get their money out, amid rampant inflation and a currency crisis. my guest is lebanon s minister of economy and trade, amin salam. politicians have failed lebanon for decades. will that change before the meltdown is complete? minister amin salam, currently in washington, dc, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. thank you, stephen, glad to be with you. well, we re delighted to have you in our washington studio. let me ask you, minister, do you think you and your government are levelling with the lebanese people, and indeed with the international community as well, about the scale of the economic catastrophe that your country is currently living through? absolutely. stephen, let me tell you, it has been quite a challenging year since our government took office and we started really working on a very tough mission to recover the economy in lebanon and to fix all the mess that the past two decades have left lebanon in. our government came with a big title th
absolutely. stephen, let me tell you, it has been quite a challenging year since our government took office and we started really working on a very tough mission to recover the economy in lebanon and to fix all the mess that the past two decades have left lebanon in. our government came with a big title that had really a saving approach to lebanon, a recovery approach to lebanon, a hard working approach to lebanon at a very difficult time where we had multiple things moving along at the same time, including some regional challenges, including some maritime border issues, including an imf deal. all that is mixed up with a very difficult social and economic collapse for the country.
things moving along at the same time, including some regional challenges, including some maritime border issues, including an imf deal. all that is mixed up with a very difficult social and economic collapse for the country. we indeed have made a lot of positive accomplishments or i wouldn t call them accomplishments, but steps in the right direction to save the country. we have reached a preliminary staff level agreement with the imf, which for us was a big deal because it is really putting the train on the right tracks. however, as you mentioned, yes, the pressure is very strong. the living standards, the living situations, poverty levels, energy crisis are all really still present