World Bank Delegation in Beirut to Discuss International Support Group Meeting on Lebanon

A delegation from the World Bank arrived in Lebanon on Thursday to address the International Support Group on Lebanon meeting that was held on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly last week.

Vice President of the Middle East and North Africa at the World Bank, Inger Andersen, and the accompanying delegation held talks with President Michel Suleiman at the Baabda Palace.

Suleiman hailed after talks with the delegation the World Bank's swift and unprecedented response to Lebanon's needs.

The delegation later held talks with Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat.

According to the daily An Nahar earlier that the delegation is also scheduled to hold talks with Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam, and a number of ministers on ways in which to follow up on last week's meeting.

The visit is aimed at discussing with officials the mechanisms to adopt in order to coordinate the follow up efforts with the international group in light of Lebanon's failure to form a new government.

The international support should pass through a government that enjoys local and international backing and not a non-governmental power, explained An Nahar.

The World Bank delegation will therefore try to relay this message to Suleiman during its meeting later on Thursday, revealed the daily.

Caretaker Economy Minister Nicolas Nahhas meanwhile highlighted to al-Joumhouria newspaper the importance of the delegation's visit, saying it is a sign of its “seriousness” in helping Lebanon in tackling the burden of Syrian refugees.

He hoped that it would help ease this burden after the country could no longer support the displaced.

On Wednesday, U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Derek Plumbly noted that the international support for Lebanon that was decided during last week's meeting is a “continuous process” that will be expanded “in due course,” revealing that the issue will be discussed in Washington during a World Bank meeting next week.

He said after holding talks with Speaker Nabih Berri that it was agreed that “safeguarding Lebanon's security and stability can best be undertaken by strengthening state institutions.”

The International Support Group on Lebanon said last week that the country faces an explosion of social tensions unless the international community helps to handle hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees.

President Michel Suleiman told foreign ministers from the world's leading nations that his country faces an "existential crisis" because of the influx fleeing the war between President Bashar Assad and opposition rebels.

He told the International Support Group for Lebanon that major financing was needed to pay for the refugees, reinforce public services because of the burden and bolster the army.

The Syria conflict will cost Lebanon $7.5 billion from 2012 to 2014, according to an estimate given by World Bank President Jim Yong Kim to the meeting held on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.

The U.N. says there are already 760,000 Syrians registered in Lebanon and there will be one million by the end of the year. Lebanon's government estimates there are already 1.2 million with many not bothering to register.

U.S. President Barack Obama announced $74 million dollars of extra humanitarian assistance for Lebanon in a meeting with Suleiman on Tuesday. The U.S. administration is negotiating with Congress to find another $30 million.