Border deal with Israel to aid ailing Lebanese economy by allowing oil drilling: Official

Lebanon's struggling economy will significantly benefit from the revenues from the extraction of oil and gas from the disputed area once the country reaches a border demarcation agreement with Israel, Lebanese Economic and Social Council General Director Mohammad Seifeddine told Sputnik.

Beirut [Lebanon], October 12 (ANI/Sputnik): Lebanon's struggling economy will significantly benefit from the revenues from the extraction of oil and gas from the disputed area once the country reaches a border demarcation agreement with Israel, Lebanese Economic and Social Council General Director Mohammad Seifeddine told Sputnik. Two sides are expected to hold long-awaited negotiations in an attempt to resolve the maritime border dispute later this month.

"Reaching an agreement similar to this and the subsequent extraction [of the oil and gas] will benefit Lebanon as it would yield large sums of money into the country's treasury, which will allow the country to rebalance the public budget, and at a later stage, to make investments based on the revenues gained from this extraction," Seifeddine stated. Seifeddine added that the government has "high hopes" for the upcoming border-demarcation agreements with Israel, which if successful will allow the consortium of companies licensed by the Lebanese government to begin taking the necessary steps towards the extraction of the oil and gas reserves in the disputed Block-9 off the Lebanese coast.

The Mediterranean country has been suffering from the most severe economic crisis since its independence in 1943, which has led its national currency, the Lebanese Pound, to lose roughly 80% of its value over the course of the past year. (ANI/Sputnik)

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