BEIRUT, March 20 (Xinhua) -- Lebanon's Finance Minister Ghazi Wazne said that negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) aimed at restructuring the country's debt showed huge differences, a statement issued by the Finance Ministry reported on Friday.
"We cannot take measures that will increase the suffering of the population; the upcoming negotiations will be tough," Wazne said.
However, Wazne emphasized the need for international funding in a bid to be able to solve Lebanon's problem.
Lebanon is considering using depositors' money to salvage its crisis-hit banks as part of an overhaul of the sector following the country's first sovereign debt default.
Wazne said the government was studying examples of other financial restructurings, with options including a bail-in, where a portion of deposits are converted to shares in the bank.
Other measures being considered included freezing dollar deposits for up to six years before paying them back in Lebanese pounds and creating a fund of state assets that depositors have to buy into.
The new government faces a huge challenge of curbing its public spending, cutting the cost of paying interests on its debt pile, and reducing its massive current account deficit.
These measures are usually implemented in cooperation with the IMF, but so far Beirut has only asked for technical advice from the agency.
