The International Monetary Fund's Middle East Technical Assistance Center (METAC) indicated that Lebanon received technical assistance during the fiscal year that ended in April 2025. METAC provided technical assistance projects in financial supervision and regulation, public financial management, revenue administration, and real sector statistics to Lebanon in the fourth quarter of FY 2024/25, or between February and April 2025.  In terms of financial supervision and regulation, METAC assisted the Banking Control Commission of Lebanon (BCCL) to strengthen its supervisory capacity in the assessment of the asset classification and provisioning levels of banks. It said that it provided BCCL's examiners a series of capacity-building sessions in order to improve their skills to review and evaluate the sustainability of the banks' business models, and covered the entire process from licensing to supervision, in alignment with the Basel Core Principles. It added that it helped members of the BCCL to assess and maintain the quality of the financial institutions' various asset categories in line with international standards, including a thorough review of their participations in subsidiaries and associates, investments in financial securities and real estate portfolios, and making careful adjustments to the book value of assets.  In terms of public financial management, METAC delivered, in collaboration with the Institute of Finance (IoF), a budget-costing workshop about costing techniques that are widely used in other countries to strengthen the budget's credibility and ensure the equal treatment of line ministries and agencies, as well as to improve alignment with government priorities. It said that more than 60 staff members from the budget and finance function learned key practices that support the budget preparation process and the practical use of baselines that are essential for establishing a reliable Medium-Term Fiscal Framework and a Medium-Term Budget Framework.  In terms of revenue administration, METAC trained auditors to improve their Excel skills in order to analyze large amounts of accounting data. It indicated that the training establishes a foundation for future activities with the IoF that cover general audit techniques; computer assisted and risk-based auditing; and specific soft skills required for value-added tax and Large Taxpayers Office auditors. It added that it delivered a transfer pricing workshop to help the Ministry of Finance develop comprehensive transfer pricing regulations by implementing a wide-ranging transfer pricing regime and fundamental provisions for the income tax law.  In terms of real sector statistics, METAC reviewed the work that the Central Administration for Statistics completed since the previous mission, identified potential improvements, and helped plan the remaining work required to allow the publication of the final Construction Cost index by July 2025.  The IMF established METAC in Beirut in October 2004 to serve Afghanistan, Algeria, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, and Yemen. The center's mandate is to assist in capacity-building, facilitate the reform process in member countries, and support the region's integration in the world economy. (ICE BEIRUT)

Fonte notizia: Byblos Bank, June 2 - 7, 2025