Dalati Nohra/Handout via REUTERSBEIRUT, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Lebanon's progress in implementing reforms required to unlock relief funds from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) remains very slow, the IMF said in a statement on Wednesday. "Despite the urgency for action to address Lebanon's deep economic and social crisis, progress in implementing the reforms agreed under the April (staff-level agreement) remains very slow," the IMF said at the end of its delegation's visit to Beirut. The IMF said Lebanon's small depositors must be fully protected and recourse to public resources should be limited. After meeting the IMF delegation on Wednesday, Lebanon's President Michel Aoun said that "domestic actors" had slowed progress towards reform. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Andrea Shalal, Mahmoud Mourad, Aidan Lewis and Maya Gebeily; Editing by Alex RichardsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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