The Lebanese national flag flies in Beirut, Lebanon, August 18, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay

BEIRUT, Jan 15 (Reuters) – Powerful Lebanese groups Hezbollah and Amal said on Saturday they would end a boycott of cabinet sessions, clearing the way for ministers to meet after a three-month hiatus that saw the economic crisis get worse and the currency collapse further. .

The groups, which support several ministers in a government made up of members from all political and sectarian backgrounds, said the decision was prompted by a desire to approve the 2022 budget and discuss an economic recovery.

The groups had refused to attend cabinet sessions in a dispute over the handling of an investigation into the massive 2020 Beirut port explosion.

The failure to hold cabinet meetings has delayed talks on a stimulus package with the International Monetary Fund, seen as key to unlocking international support to pull the country out of a crisis that has plunged swaths of the nation in poverty.

Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed group that has a well-armed militia, and Amal, another Shia Muslim group, have called for the removal of a judge who was overseeing the investigation into the blast.

They accused Judge Tarek Bitar of bias after trying to question two senior Amal officials accused of the blast.

Bitar, who does not make public statements, was quoted by families of the blast victims as saying he would continue his investigation which has been repeatedly blocked by a slew of lawsuits from powerful suspects in the area. ‘case.

Prime Minister Najib Mikati, whose post is held by a Sunni Muslim under Lebanon’s sectarian political system, said in a statement that he welcomed the decision to end the boycott and would convene a cabinet meeting as soon as possible. that it would receive a draft 2022 budget from the Ministry of Finance. Ministry.

A government source told Reuters there were no plans for a cabinet session next week as budget preparations were still underway and figures for a financial recovery plan were in the works. of elaboration.

Mikati said his government was seeking to sign a preliminary agreement for an IMF support program in February.

An IMF spokesman told Reuters that virtual talks would take place with Lebanese authorities during the last week of January.

Reporting by Timour Azhari; Written by Moataz Mohamed; Editing by Edmund Blair

Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.