UN Special Coordinator says reforms 'crucial, inevitable'

United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon Joanna Wronecka said Friday that three years after Lebanon announced its first ever sovereign default, Lebanese are still waiting for their leaders to act to rescue the country.

"People are desperate to see their salaries severely diminished by currency depreciation and inflation," Wronecka said in a tweet.

She added that reforms agreed with the International Monetary Fund are crucial and inevitable.

On Thursday, the International Monetary Fund gave a grim assessment of Lebanon’s prospects for getting out of its deepening financial crisis, saying that without reforms, the country is headed for hyperinflation.

Ernesto Ramirez Rigo, the head of the IMF mission visiting Lebanon, said at the end of their nine-day visit that continued inaction by Lebanese leaders would leave the nation in a “never-ending crisis” in which it could spiral into hyperinflation, “affecting the quality of life of many Lebanese for years to come.”