The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has opened its regional office in Beirut tasked with helping Middle East countries, including Afghanistan, upgrade their economic, monetary and fiscal policies. The Middle East Technical Assistance Centre (METAC) will initially provide Afghanistan, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, the Palestinian territories, Sudan, Syria and Yemen with technical assistance in the domains of central banking (banking supervision, structuring, payment systems, resources management and monetary operations) as well as public expenditure, revenue and tax management. METAC, which will employ between 10 and 12 staff, is the fifth regional IMF office of its kind. Others already exist for East and West Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific. Initially, the emphasis of this office was to be focused on post-conflict countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan, the Palestinian territories, and Sudan. But its scope has since been broadened. Significantly, the inauguration coincided with a warning in Beirut by visiting IMF
