Lebanon's prime minister pledged to stabilize the country's economic problems and aim for a budget deficit of around 7% next year.
Speaking to CNBC's Hadley Gamble in Beirut, Saad Hariri said: "I understand that we have a problem but I am extremely confident that we can get out of this problem if we follow through all the steps we put in front of us."
Hariri also said he was committed to keeping the Lebanese pound's currency peg to the U.S. dollar. "We believe in the government and in the Ministry of Finance also the central bank, we believe that keeping the Lebanese pound at 1,500 is the only way, only stable way to move forward with these reforms.", initiating plans to accelerate reforms in an effort to save the country's ailing economy.
Lebanon is among the most indebted countries in the world, with public debt equating to about 150% of its gross domestic product , according to the International Monetary Fund . The parliament passed a new budget in July, which contained a number of measures to cut the country's deficit to 7.6% of GDP, from 11.5% last year. The austerity measures will allow Lebanon to unlock $11 billion in aid pledged by international donors at the CEDRE Conference in Paris in April, 2018.
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